YuGiOh! GX Heroes: Cyber Battles
by kilnorc
Summary: During summer break, Jaden and the gang get invited to the first ever Virtual Reality Tournament. What is meant as a fun time, turns into a fight to return to the real world with both mind and body intact!
1. Prologue

**Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Heroes: Cyber Battles**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX.**

**Kilnorc: Hey guys, ya ol' pal Kilnorc here! I'm sure you all have been waiting patiently for me to start this, and I've been slacking off to work on my One Piece stories. Fear not, however, for your patience has paid off! Let this new arc begin!**

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**_"Behind you, behind you! Imp! Imp!"_**

"I see him, I see him!"

**_"Shotgun, use your shotgun!"_**

"I'm empty on shells!"

**_"Use your BFG then!"_**

"Like I'm gonna waste a BFG shot on _one_ Imp!"

**_"WATCH OUT!"_**

"Dammit! Thanks alot, Chrissy, my last health points were blasted by plasma, thank you very much! I hope you run into a Hell Knight...,"

**_"You don't mean that, do you?"_**

"..."

**_"...Siho?"_**

Chuckling to himself, Siho Zolaro took a sip of his soda and leaned back against his bed, listening to the cries of fear of his best friend via headset. The two of them had been playing DOOM 3 online with their X-Boxes, just enjoying the summer evening of no homework, no life threatening Shadow Games..just normal, demon-blasting video games.

**_"ACK! REVENANT! I GOT A REVENANT! WHAT DO I DO?!"_**

Shaking his head, Siho rubbed his eyes and pulled the mic closer, "Bet shot to destroy those rockets it fires is the plasma gun. That destroys them, and it deals good damage at the monster...,"

**_"Okay...hang on...,"_**

"Be back in a bit, Chrissy...don't get yourself killed, alright?"

**_"Don't jinx me!"_**

Siho couldn't help but smirk as he took off the headset. He exited the bedroom and made his way to the bathroom. On his way, he heard noise come from the living room. Poking his head in, he saw his mother sit at the computer, playing an older online RPG, laughing into her own headset.

"Got that before you, Berg! That's what you get for leaving me to die in Andariel's lair!"

_God, we are so like our parents..._ Siho rolled his eyes and entered the bathroom, locking the door behind him.

As he steadied himself in front of the "throne", a familiar sensation came over him.

"Hello, Little One,"

Siho nearly jumped at the intruder's voice. After making sure he didn't pee on himself, Siho snapped his head to see the Dark Man sitting on the edge of the bathtub. The Dark Man was an entity that had been with him since he could remember. Once thought to be a figment of his imagination, Siho learned that this _thing_ wasn't his imagination, and certainly not harmless. During his first year of Duel Academy, Siho discovered that this thing was real after all, and that it was after something. He wasn't sure what yet, but he had many questions that would go unanswered for a time.

The ebony haired duelist snorted and turned to look at the wall, "You got a thing about watching teenage boys take a piss, Dark Man?" he growled.

The spirit chuckled, "Hardly, Little One, I'm not like that at all,"

"Really, you fooled me," Siho shot back, feeling uncomfortable, "What do you want?"

"Can't I just pop by and say hello to a friend?"

"You're one I'd hardly call a friend," Siho muttered, "Don't make me ask again,"

"Oooh, fiesty," the Dark Man grinned and rubbed his hands, "Day by day, more and more...anyway, I just thought I'd let you know that the house is being watched...and closely, I might add,"

Siho finished, zipped up and started to wash his hands, "I think you're getting paranoid, Dark Man. The only one 'watching' the house is a dog from across the street. I think all those movies I watched with Chrissy and her folks got to...well, whatever brain you got right now,"

"You saying you don't believe me?"

"Why should I?" Siho glared at the spirit through the mirror, "Huh? With everything that I know about you-,"

"Which, luckily for me, is very little,"

"Shut up. I just know that I shouldn't trust anything you say, or do...unless it's absolutely necessary,"

The Dark Man feigned a look of hurt, "That pains me _so_ deeply, Little One," he cracked a grin, "Like it or not, you need to start heeding my advice,"

"No, what I need to do is find out where I can find a real Ghostbuster to get you outta here,"

With that, Siho left the bathroom, leaving the Dark Man sitting on the tub.

"Guess the brat needs to learn over time...oh well,"

-----

The next morning, Siho banged on Chrissy's home door. Today was going to be a big day for the both of them. They both had recieved word, as well as invite to come to a special event at Kaiba Land. The invite came from the staff, while the heads up came from Khamille Tong, one of their friends from school.

"C'mon, Chrissy!" he yelled, pounding harder, "We don't be late!"

Almost instantly, the door swung open and Christina Berg stepped out, slugging him in the stomach, "It's rude to yell,".

Siho nearly fell to his knees, _Dammit Chrissy...hate it when you do that!_

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!" Christina hopped towards the car where Siho's mom was waiting for them.

Siho waved at her and stumbled his way to the car, trying to catch his breath. As he sat down in the front, he turned back to Chrissy, "The hell, Chrissy?"

Christina grinned and raised her arms, showing some muscle, "Been workin' out, buddy. Sorry...did I break anything?"

"Hopefully just his manly pride," Siho's mother cracked as she turned the keys, "You kids got your decks?"

"Yeah, Mom,"

"Yeppers, Aunt Niri,"

"Why do you keep callin' her that?" Siho asked as the car took off down the street.

Christina shrugged, "I dunno...just fun, I guess,"

"You are so damn odd,"

"You know, I may have hurt your pride, but you want me to hurt your jewels next?" Christina threatened, cracking her knuckles.

Siho quickly turned back around and looked out the window.

"That's what I thought,"

-----

After being dropped off at the famous amusement park created and run by Seto Kaiba and KaibaCorp, both Christina and Siho were guided by a couple of employees to an area of the park that seemed to be closed off to other guests, as they were the only ones there.

"I got a bad feeling about this," Christina whispered as they came to a large building.

"Why, what do you think they're gonna do?"

"What if they're not really employees, and they knock us out, kill us, cut us into pieces, and then stuff our bodies into a suitcase each?!"

Siho stared at his friend, "What _did_ your father do to you?"

"I think he let me watch too many scary movies at the wrong time,"

"That explains so much,"

Finally, they came to their destination. After passing through a pair of automatic doors, Siho and Christina found themselves in a large room filled with computer equipment and people dressed in KaibaCorp uniforms. While computers and numerous monitors with different viewings covering the walls, it was the center of the room that made them most interested.

Directly in the middle of the floor, connected to a huge piece of hardware, were what looked like cryogenic tubes. Each one looked like it would hold a full grown human, and the inside was full of wires and a large leather mattress.

"Welcome, guys! I was wondering when you'd get here!"

Siho and Christina turned away from the tubes and saw the familiar face of Khamille May Tong, fellow Slifer Red at Duel Academy. Squealing, Christina ran over to her and nearly tackled her to the floor in a glomp.

Watching the two reunite, Siho nodded, "Dude...that's hot,"

_SMACK!_

"OW!" Siho looked behind him, rubbing his head, and was surprised to see more familiar faces from school.

There was Jaden Yuki, a young man who used Elemental Heroes in his deck and who saved Duel Academy from a horrible fate. There was Chazz Princeton, a once uptight, rich, snobbish Obelisk Blue...but now he was an uptight, rich, snobbish Slifer Red. Joining them was the Queen of Obelisk Blue, Alexis Rhodes and her Ra Yellow cousin, Jordan. Finally, he caught sight of Bastion Misawa, a brainy Ra Yellow, and Kairi Lumina, a Slifer Red who had once been an enemy to them, now a good friend.

"Okay, what the hell is going on?" Siho turned to Khamille, who was climbing to her feet, with Christina still hugging her, "Why is everyone here?"

"Everyone's not here," Jaden jerked a thumb to the group, "Syrus, Atticus and Zane aren't here,"

"Well, I know Zane's not, he's too busy dealing with Pro duelists," Siho said quickly, waving them off, "But seriously, what is all this?"

Khamille pried Chrissy off her neck and smiled widely, "Guys, you aren't gonna believe this!"

"Try us,"

"Okay, look," Khamille clapped her hands together, "You know how my family is right? Influential...wealthy...,"

"A pain in the ass, like Chazz and his family?" Siho cracked.

Jaden and Jordan had to keep Chazz from jumping Siho.

"Aaaaanyhoo," Khamille continued, "My brother kinda made an interesting offer to KaibaCorp. You know that virtual world game that Kaiba made years back?"

"Yeah...,"

"Well, that involves computer AI and trying to do dueling Final Fantasy style. The offer Kristerr made was that if our family could make a new, improved virtual reality game for Kaiba Land, Kaiba would integrate into the park!" Khamilled bounced a little, "So, with that in mind, we needed some testers for the game and I automatically thought of you guys!"

Jaden grinned widely, "Wow, thanks, Khamille! So, we get to duel in cyberspace, huh? Righteous!"

Jordan nudged Alexis, "Cyberspace? Guess it's good that Atticus isn't here, huh?"

Alexis scoffed, "Forget dueling, he'd be going on sites he shouldn't be going,"

"So, wait," Chrissy rubbed the back of her head, "_This_ is the special event that we got invited to? A test run of a VR game?"

"Chrissy, if we can pull this off, the kids here will have a brand new experience!" Khamille explained, "Think of it...the first Duel Monster's tournament in virtual reality!"

"A tournament?" Kairi looked around, "I think it's a small tourney, given the number of players here,"

Chazz scoffed and folded his arms, "It doesn't matter. Get any players you want, Tong, The Chazz will beat 'em all,"

Khamille grinned, "Oh...alright...if you want Chazz. I hope everyone has their decks?"

Everyone nodded and held up their respective decks.

"Great! Now, everyone, follow my lead and get into a tube. When you're in there, place your deck in the deck reader, and just wait for the systems to take over. I'll be going with you guys to join in on the fun," Khamille winked, "I can't miss out on this,"

As everyone spread out and took their tubes, Kairi found herself without a place to get into. She walked over to Khamille, who was inserting her deck.

"Uhm...there's no more tubes,"

Khamille looked at her, then looked around, "Aw man...Kairi, I'm so sorry! I thought we'd have enough for everyone...,"

"It's ok," Kairi waved her off and backed away, "Thanks for the invite though, glad I was able to be a part of something in _some_ way,"

"That's okay, she can stay," a nearby technician walked up to them, "Don't worry, Miss Tong, we'll make sure that she gets something out of this," he looked at Kairi, "Be sure to watch them. After we're done with their run, you can have your own personal game, alright? This way, you can study what to do,"

Kairi's face lit up, "Really?!"

"Sure, why not?" the techinician guided her to a large set of viewing monitors. Four smaller ones were on either side of a much larger one. The four smaller ones had data of each person in the tubes, from their pictures and names, to their decks.

"Man, I wonder if this is how Neo felt when he enters the Matrix," Christing wondered aloud as the tube enclosed on her.

After making sure everyone and everything was in place, Kairi and the other technicians gathered behined what appeared to be the main console system for the tubes and computer. They all watched as the system whirred to life and the monitors began to change into viewscreens of some kind of weird alternate world, each screen holding a different area.

Kairi glanced at one of the screens, "Hey, who are these guys?" she asked, pointing to a set of eight individuals, "I thought Khamille and the others are the only ones going in?"

"Oh, they are," one of the workers assured her, "Those are just their opponents for the tournament. These eight duelists were created by a talented duelist and strategist and have been selected for this run,"

"Ah...," Kairi looked back at the tubes, "So, what are the rules for this tournament?"

"Pretty much same as any major tournament. If someone wins, they go to the next stage, however, if they lose. They don't. If one of your friends loses, the computer system will bring them right back to the real world,"

"So, there's nothing to worry about?"

"Nothing at all. All we're really doing is seeing if these kids can handle these players,"

"Why?"

"Because, we plan on using them for the real game if it comes out,"

"Oh,"

The lead technician sighed and entered a key sequence, "Here goes nothing...," he glanced up at the kids in the tube, "Have fun, guys," he whispered before pressing the final key.

-----

In a dark room, sitting in front of a large monitor, a figure laughed coldly as it watched the events take place in the testing chamber.

"Nothing to worry about?" the figure inserted a small, round disk into it's computer, brought up a new window, and began typing commands, "We'll see about _that_. I think that this game should have a couple of hidden characters...,"

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**Kilnorc: DUN DUN DUN...man, first chapter and already some weird mojo's going down. Before I officially end this chapter, let me just apologize if this is kinda blah. I'm not good with first chapters on fics sometimes, and I wasn't sure how else to bring this around...anyhoo, if this WAS iffy, like on rules and stuff, it'll get better as I go along. Once again, sorry if it's blah! Later ya'll!**


	2. The Wonderful World of VR

**The Wonderful World of VR**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX.**

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"Dude...,"

"I know...!"

"This place is...is...,"

"It's a frickin' dump,"

Chazz put his hands on his hips and looked around, scanning the area around them. They were in an open field, with a large forest in front of them, and a well-used, dirt path in front of them.

"They call this VR?" Chazz snorted, turning to the others, "It's pathetic!"

Christina looked at her hands, then touched her face, "Dude, this stuff feels so real!"

"You can actually feel it?"

"Yeah...maybe it's like the Matrix," Christina looked up at the blue sky, staring at the clouds, "Mind makes it real?"

"Got any idea on how to test that theory?" Chazz scoffed.

Christina nodded and rammed her foot upward between Chazz's legs, sending the pain-in-the-butt duelist to the ground, holding himself.

"Looks like a successful test," Siho muttered, scratching his head.

Jaden crossed his arms, "Well, the VR doesn't look too bad...but how the heck are we gonna duel?" he held up his deck, "We don't have duel disks,"

**_"Don't worry, guys, you got your hardware coming right for ya!"_**

Alexis and Jordan looked at the sky, "Kairi?!"

**_"Yeah, it's me! Check it out, I got a headset so I can keep in touch,"_** Kairi's voice echoed around them all, **_"The guys on this side are inputing the list of rules and your duel disks so you can understand how to beat this game, or at least, learn how to play well enough to get by...,"_**

"Cool," Jaden put his arms behind his head, "So...when are we gonna-,"

**_"INCOMING BOYS AND GIRLS!"_**

Everyone except for Khamille, and Chazz (who was already on the ground), dove for cover, arms over their heads.

Khamille shook her head and held out her arm as a shiny, Duel Academy duel disk appeared on her arm, "Guys, get up, this is embarassing,"

One by one, the others rose to their feet and saw that they also wore duel disks on their arms.

"Man, I've missed this," Jaden inserted his deck into the duel disk, "So, let's go, let's go find someone to duel!"

Khamille tapped him on the forehead with a thin booklet that had appeared with the disks, "I don't think so, Jaden...first, we need to read the rules of the game,"

Chazz waved her off, "Same as a real duel, we win, we get further and further, what's there to learn?" he asked aloud as he started walking down the nearby path, "C'mon, let's go find some loser to beat,"

"Chazz-,"

"Let's go already!"

"_Chazz..._,"

"Come on!"

Ignoring the cries of his friends, and being focused on beating anyone and everyone, Chazz didn't even notice something come out of the forest until it was too late. An orange blur shot out and rammed into him, sending him to the virtual dirt.

"Chazz!!"

Everyone ran over to him, but came to a stop and stared at the orange thing that collided with Chazz.

It was a Baby Dragon.

Chazz spat out some dirt and looked at the creature that was on his back, "GET THIS THING OFFA ME!"

Christina stuck out her tongue and gently pulled the skittish Dragon off of Chazz's back and scratched it behind the horns. The dragon began to emit a purring sound and it seemed to calm down.

"There ya go, good boy...who's a good boy," she cooed, moving to another horn.

Chazz gawked at the Dragon, "How the hell...what the hell are you doing with that thing?!"

Christina humphed and turned away, "The poor thing was scared to death, Princeton! I'm calming him down,"

"How do you know-?"

"I watch movies and read books," Christina interrupted, "God, use your head for once, rich-boy,"

Jaden, after a few moments of shock, walked over and began to pet the dragon, "Hey little guy...where's your owner?"

"What makes you think it has an owner?!" Chazz growled, shooting to his feet, "Pets usually don't fly out at attack people!"

"Oh, he was just scared!" Christina turned away from him, resisting the temptation to kick Chazz hard in a delicate place again, "I guess in this world, Duel Monsters can be pets to people,"

Siho looked up and thought of the possibilities of Duel Monster pets, "If that's true...dude, I can so imagine a trio of Harpy Sisters," he chuckled, rubbing his hands together as a perverted grin crossed his face, "Instead of twins, there'd be three of them...,"

Khamille and Alexis shared a punch upside Siho's head, knocking the kid to the ground, "GET YOUR MIND OUTTA THE GUTTER!" they snapped in unison.

Chrissy shook her head at her friends and looked down at the Baby Dragon, "You got a name, little guy?" she asked softly.

To everyone's surprise, the Dragon nodded.

"What is it?" Christina asked slowly.

The Dragon wiggled free of Christina's grip and landed in front of Siho. Everyone watched as the Dragon arched it's tail and began to write with it's tip in the dirt. When it finished, everyone looked at what was written in the virtual soil.

DRAKE

"Damn, that is one smart dragon," Siho remarked, looking at the Baby Dragon, who was rubbing up against Christina's leg.

Chazz's eye twitched, the young man growing impatient, "So now what?!"

Drake the Baby Dragon flapped his wings and began down a path into the forest. After going a short distance, he looked back at them over his shoulder.

"I think he wants us to follow," Alexis thought aloud.

"Fine, whatever, as long as we're doing something besides talking," Chazz muttered, getting to his feet.

Soon, the group of eight duelists began to follow the young Dragon, Chazz lagging behind, avoiding the Dragon as best he could.

-----

"Man, first thing they meet is a Dragon...," Kairi sighed and crossed her arms, jealous of her friend's good time even more right now, "Wonder if I'll get the same thing when I get to play,"

She turned to a nearby technician, "Where are they right now?"

"Uhm...," the woman closest to her leafed through data files, "According to this...Harpie Forest,"

"Harpie...Forest?" Kairi turned to the view screen to find the gang in the midst of the forest, surrounded by huge, ancient looking trees, "Why doesn't that sound good?"

-----

Drake led the group of duelists through the woods until coming to a stop at a huge, gnarled tree, one that reminded Chrissy a lot of the trees from Endor of _Star Wars_. He landed in front of the tree and looked up at it, growling loudly.

"What is it, Drakey?" Christina asked, bending down and rubbing his head, "What's wrong?"

Alexis looked around and rubbed her arm nervously, "This place gives me the creeps,"

"Just keep an eye out for a Gorax," Siho cracked under his breath.

"If there's anyone down there, SOMEONE GET ME DOWN FROM HERE!" a voice yelled from nowhere, startling the group.

Jaden looked around the forest, but didn't see anybody, "Okay...this is gettin' weird...,"

"Guys...what does that look like to you?" Jordan pointed to something high in the gnarled tree.

Everyone looked up and squinted. There, just beyond their field of vision, was what looked like a large treehouse.

As they looked, trying to find the person who had yelled, two blurs flew around them. Taking advantage of the startled and confused group, the two blurs descended onto the group and the next thing they knew, Jordan and Chazz were being carried into the air.

Without a second thought, Jaden got a running start and jumped. He would've missed them, but lucky for him, if you can call it lucky, he snagged Chazz's leg and held out tight.

"JADEN!" Alexis shouted, watching as her friends were carried into the air.

A third blur appeared and the next thing the girls knew, they watched as Siho and Bastion were in the air as well, following the others.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"What the hell was _that_?!" Christina cried, turning to her friends, "I think the guys just got abducted by the Jersey Devil!"

Alexis and Khamille exchanged glances, one that said "She's forgetting we're in a game,"

A warm blast of wind from above made the trio of girls look up to see another blur flying rapidly around them. In an act of either fear or bravery, the girls closed ranks and kept close to one another with Drake in the middle of them, staring as the blur slowed down and landed in front of them, finally giving them a clear sight of what was flying above them.

It was a tall, dark skinned, shirtless man in blue jeans. His brown belts covered his waist and hung over the side while he shook out his red wings, probably straightening them out as Alexis thought.

The man folded his wings behind him and looked curiously at the girls, "Strange...," he said in a hoarse, deep voice, "It's usually my mates or myself that finds humans...not the other way around,"

"Mates?" Alexis raised an eyebrow.

"Dude, that's Harpie's Brother!" Christina whispered, nudging her friends.

"Thanks, we didn't know that,"

"Really?"

"..."

The winged monster walked over and looked at the girls closely for a few moments, making the trio uncomfortable. Chuckling, he stepped back and nodded, "Tonight, my family feasts!"

Christina looked at the others, "I got a baaaaaad feeling about this,"

-----

"Um...okay, I _don't_ think this is a treehouse,"

Jaden sat in what he thought was an oversized bird's nest, filled with eggshell pieces, branches, and other nest material surrounding him.

"Oh ya think?!" Chazz's angry voice called from in front of him, "JUST GET YOUR BUTT OVER HERE AND UNTIE US!"

Jaden looked ahead and noticed that the rest of the boys were tied to the trunk with thick vines. Siho, Jordan and Bastion had given up trying to get loose, but Chazz was still going at it like crazy.

"Hang on guys," Jaden slowly climbed to his feet, "I don't really wanna fall out of here...so just wait a bit okay?"

Chazz muttered something Jaden didn't catch, but Jaden didn't really care. As he slowly made his way across the nest, something dropped in front of him. Startled, Jaden fell to his rear, but he was surprised at what was in front of him.

In front of him, was a little girl with long blonde hair. Two long, pink feathers were placed in her golden hair, but what threw Jaden off was that this girl had yellow, possible golden claws on her arms, as well as beautiful, pink feathered wings that sprouted from her back.

Jaden decided to be careful and smiled, "H-Hi there...what's your name? I'm Jaden Yuki," he said slowly as he climbed back to his feet.

The girl looked at him curiously and walked over, looking up at him. Jaden watched nervously as the girl raised a clawed hand and slowly move it across his face, as if she was feeling him to see if he was real.

"Get away from the human, my chick!" a high, coarse voice cawed from above.

With an _eep_, the young girl ducked to the side as a Harpie Lady landed between Jaden and his friends. The Harpie Lady glared hard at Jaden and swiped her claw at him, scratching his face. Yelping, Jaden fell back on his butt, holding his face.

"Jeez, that hurts!"

"Oi!" Siho yelled from behind the winged monster, "Harpie Hag! Why don't you pick on somebody your own species?!"

Instead of the Harpie Lady turning around and snapping at him, two more Harpie Ladies dropped from above between the group and Jaden, flexing their claws threateningly at Siho.

"Watch your tongue, human, or we'll rip it out here and now!"

"Sister doesn't deserve your disrespect, and other Sister can really make you pay for that...,"

Siho managed to flip them the bird, "Piss off, ladies!"

Bastion sweatdropped, "Uh, Siho, I don't think that's wise...we're not really in a very good predicament right now,"

"Oh bite me, Bastion!" Siho snapped at him, "I thought after your 'abduction' time with Tanya, I figured you'd like being tied up by chicks!"

Bastion's face turned bright red, "I beg your pardon?! I seem to recall another student being kidnapped by a vampire!"

"That's different!" Siho shot back, "That time, I actually got kidnapped, I didn't fall in love with the enemy!"

While the two of them bickered, the Harpie Sisters seemed a little thrown off. They were the captors, they were supposed to have the edge, but as far as they knew, they were being ignored!

The first sister growled and turned to her siblings, "Go...get the other prisoner!"

Her sisters nodded and disappeared in a blur. As the others argued, and Jaden still held his injury, the little Harpie Girl slowly walked up to the Harpy Lady in charge and clung to her leg.

The Harpie Lady looked down, "Don't worry, my chick...soon, we won't have to worry about these people anymore,"

Soon, her sisters returned with a new person tied tightly with a bunch of vines. The new prisoner was a young man, who didn't look much older than Siho or Jordan. He wore a purple cap with a claw mark on the front of it, a brown duster jacket that stopped at his knees and a pair of black sunglasses over his eyes.

"Who's _that_?" Jordan asked, nodding to the prisoner, making the other two stop bickering.

-----

Down below, Alexis, Khamille, Christina, and Drake seemed to have one hell of a staring contest with Harpie's Brother. After what seemed like forever, Christina let out a growl and stepped forward, holding up her dueling arm.

"Screw this, if you wanna fight, let's go! I can take any challenge you throw at me, so let's duel!"

The winged male looked down at the duel disk and let out a roar, making the girls cover their ears while Drake hid behind his wings...or tried to, anyway.

"Damn you, humans!" he seethed, "You're all the same! You think that we're nothing but wild animals that exist only to be tamed and sold by humans...making us work like slaves...," he flexed a claw, "It would be so worth it if your kind was wiped out...,"

Christina frowned, _Great, a guy with a Magneto attitude..._

Harpie's Brother glared at them again before letting out an ear-piercing shriek that echoed around them. Once again, the girls and Drake covered their ears, in hopes of keeping themselves from going deaf.

After what seemed like forever, the screeching died down completely and the girls looked at Harpie's Brother, who was no longer alone. The boys were back, tied up in vines, along with three young girls with wings, and three Harpie Ladies. There was also a young man with them that neither girl recognized.

Harpie's Brother turned and began to talk in a language that didn't sound like anything they had heard of before. After a short time, Harpie's Brother turned back to them and nodded, "You want a challenge...fine, I will grant your last request, human,"

He held up his arm, and as he did, the Harpie Ladies, and the young girls glowed a bright light and joined to become a bright, glowing orb. The orb floated around Harpie's Brother's arm and turned into a brown and red duel disk, complete with a Duel Monster deck in it.

Christina grinned and cracked her knuckles, "Alright...let's-,"

"Not you,"

The brunette nearly fell over, "WHAT?!"

Harpie's Brother looked at the boys and grabbed the nearest one, which was Chazz and released him from his bindings, "You...you and I will duel,"

Christina's eye twitched, "Why I oughta...sonofa-,"

Alexis and Khamille held their friend back.

"Don't make him angry...,"

"Please, Chrissy!"

Chazz rubbed his wrists and smirked at the winged monster, "Alright...The Chazz will duel you. As payback for the crappy time I've been having, I'll pound you into the dirt!"

"We'll see, human," Harpie's Brother turned and started to walk off, "We'll see...,"

-----

"Man, I was hoping to see Chrissy duel!" Kairi sighed, "Or at least, anyone besides Chazz,"

"Sorry, kid," the lead technician shrugged, "But when the AI desiginates an opponent to duel with, there's no changing it. If they don't duel, it's forfeit,"

"Aw man," Kairi turned to the monitor again to see the group enter a large clearing, Harpie's Brother on one end and Chazz on one end, the gang on the sidelines, "Good luck, I guess, Chazz,"

-----

"Ready, Human?"

"Yeah, I'm ready...ready to show you what The Chazz is made of!"

Harpie's Brother scoffed as they activated their duel disks, "So arrogant...just like a human!"

"DUEL!" the two of them cried and drew their cards.

**C: 4000  
H: 4000**

"Seeing as this Forest is our home, I shall go first," Harpie's Brother drew his card, "I summon Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon (1200/600) in attack mode!"

A small, red dragon with a jewel encrusted on it's forehead appeared on the field, snorting and growling at Chazz as it's chain leash dragged along the ground.

"Pfft...," Chazz grinned at the beast, "You call _that_ a dragon?"

Harpie's Brother smirked, "Wait until it powers up," he held up another card, "I play Ties of the Brethren!"

Siho turned to Chrissy, "Ain't that one of your cards?"

Christina nodded, "Yeah...,"

"By sacrificing 1000 Life Points, I can Special Summon two Level 4 monsters from my deck," Harpie's Brother fanned out his deck, plucked two cards out and slapped them onto the field, "I summon Harpie Lady #1 (1300/1400) and Harpie Lady #2 (1300/1400) to the field!"

Two of the Harpies from before appeared, one on either side of the Pet Baby Dragon.

Bastion frowned, "This may be harder than Chazz thought,"

Christina looked at him, "Why?"

"Because, Harpie Lady #1 gives a 300 attack point bonus to all Wind-Attribute monsters on the field...and because there's _two_ monsters on the field that has Harpie in it's name, besides Pet Baby Dragon, Pet Baby Dragon's points are doubled, increasing it's points even more!"

Harpie's Brother chuckled, "That's not all...this sanctuary of ours, the Harpie's Forest, gives all Winged Beast monsters a 200 attack point bonus!"

"WHAT?!" Chazz stared as his opponent's monsters gained power.

Harpie Lady #1 (1800/1400)  
Harpie Lady #2 (1800/1400)  
Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon (2700/1200)

"I'm not done!" Harpie's Brother slipped a card into his disk, "I play the Spell card, United We Stand!"

Chazz scowled.

"I can equip this card to any monster I have on my field, and for every face-up monster I control on the field, it gains 800 attack points! So, guess who I'm gonna power up?"

Chazz's scowl deepened as Harpie's Brother powered up his Dragon.

Harpie Lady #1 (1800/1400)  
Harpie Lady #2 (1800/1400)  
Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon (5100/1200)

Jaden and Alexis gawked at the attack points.

"That many monsters...," Jaden blinked.

"That many attack points...," Alexis shook her head.

"ON THE FIRST TURN!?"

Christina's jaw dropped, "Holy crap...,"

"It's your turn...human,"

_About time_ Chazz drew his card and looked at his hand.

Jordan turned to his cousin, "Think he can do anything here?"

"Hard to say...unless Chazz is very lucky to draw an easy to summon, extra-strong monster, he may get wiped out this turn,"

"First, I play Polymerization and I fuse Ojama Yellow (0/1000), Ojama Green (0/1000) and Ojama Black (0/1000) from my hand to summon...," Chazz paused as his three small, very annoying partners appeared on the field and swirled around to create a gigantic, silver Ojama with a cape and bikini briefs, "Ojama King (0/3000)!"

Harpie's Brother looked up at the beast, "Nothing impressive, human...,"

"Oh yeah?" Chazz smirked as he held up two cards, "Try this then! I play De-Fusion and seperate the Ojama trio, so that I can play this card, a Spell called Ojama Delta Hurricane! What this does, in case you didn't know, you bird brain, is with the power of the three Ojama brothers, I can destroy every card on your field!"

"WHAT?!"

"Let's get 'em boys!" Ojama Yellow flew into the air, "For da Boss!"

"Da Boss!" his brothers cried as they took up their positions.

As soon as the three Ojama's took hold of each other, they began to spin around and around. Soon, they were nothing more than a colorful blur that swept the field clean of enemy monsters. After their work was done, the three of them landed on Chazz's field, eyestalks swirling.

"I love dat...,"

"Yeah!"

"Boss is so cool for lettin' us do dat,"

_Ignore them, ignore them..._ Chazz thought, his eye twitching. He looked at his hand...only to find that it was completely empty. He had used up everything in that group to save himself from the Dragon, but it was worth it. Not only did his opponent not have any strong monsters, but he had monsters he could use to sacrifice or defend him.

"I end my turn,"

**C: 4000  
H: 3000**

"You'll pay for that, human!" Harpie's Brother drew his card and smiled, "You think you had me beat when you destroyed the Pet Baby Dragon, but witness Harpie power now!" he slapped a card hard onto his disk, "I summon the almighty and all beautiful, Harpie Queen (1900/1200)!"

Chazz, as well as his friends, watched as a beautiful woman with long, blue hair dressed in a skin-tight blue suit appeared on the field, light-blue feathers coming out of her arms and golden claws coming out of hands and feet.

Siho whistled, "Not _that's _a Harpie! Wouldn't mind having her for a pet,"

Once again, Alexis and Khamille hit him upside the head while Harpie's Brother glared at him.

"Don't you dare think lecherous thoughts of the Harpie Queen, human!" he snapped, holding two cards up, "Once I'm done with this idiot, I'll take care of you all!"

Chazz's eye twitched, "Hey!"

"I equip two powerful Spells to the Queen," Harpie's Brother slipped them into his disk, "My Queen, I give to you the Phalanx Pike! Let the power of your fallen followers give you strength. Not to mention, this area, the Harpie Forest gives her 200 more points!"

Chazz watched as a long, golden, forked spear appeared in Harpie Queen's hand, and watched as her points went up.

Harpie Queen (3900/1200)

Ojama Yellow (0/1000)  
Ojama Green (0/1000)  
Ojama Black (0/1000)

"In case your wondering, Phalanx Pike gives Harpie Queen, or any Harpie Lady it's equipped to, it gains 900 attack points for every monster in the Graveyard under the same name!"

Chazz frowned, "But there is no Harpie Queen in your Graveyard!" he protested, "That's the only one!"

"True, but, Harpie Queen is considered as a normal Harpie Lady on the field, so she gains the power boost!" Harpie's Brother snorted, "Now, let the second Spell card activate! Fairy Meteor Crush!"

Everyone in the group watching watched nervously, "Uh oh...,"

"With this card, if I destroy a weaker monster in defense mode, the difference between my attack points and it's defense points are taken out of your Life Points!" Harpie's Brother pointed to Ojama Yellow, "My Queen, attack that vile thing of a monster!"

Ojama Yellow let out a terrified, high-pitchd shriek right before it was impaled by the Phalanx Pike. Chazz grunted as he felt his Life Points go down.

**C: 1100  
H: 3000**

"I end my turn,"

Chazz drew his card, "I play Pot of Greed! This Spell card lets me draw two more cards from my deck!" he drew his cards, _Bingo!_

Harpie's Brother shook his head, "It won't matter what you do, human...there's nothing you can do against my brethren!"

"Aw, shaddup already!" Chazz snapped at him, "I place two cards facedown and end my turn,"

Jordan sighed and shook his head, "Well, at least we won't have to worry about Chazz embarassing himself later on...,"

"Don't count Chazz out," Jaden put his hands behind his head, "If I know Chazz...he's got this duel finished!"

Harpie's Brother drew his card, "Harpie Queen, attack the second vile Ojama and end this duel!"

As Ojama Green began to panic, Chazz pressed a button on his disk, "I don't think so! Activate Trap card: Ring of Destruction!"

The Harpie Queen came to a stop as a large ring of red grenades appeared around her neck. Harpie's Brother glared, "What is this?!"

"_This_, is the end of the duel!" Chazz grinned, "Ring of Destruction destroys the monster it's equipped to and both players take damage equal to it's attack points!"

"But that makes no sense!" the winged man barked, "You'll lose this duel as well!"

Chazz's grin became bigger, "I don't think so," he pressed another button on his disk, "Activate Spell card, Ring of Defense!"

A large, green, four-bladed fan appeared between Chazz and Harpie Queen.

"This is a handy card that protects me from the damage that Ring of Destruction deals out," Chazz explained as it began to spin around, "I stay, and you go bye-bye!"

Harpie Queen screamed as she exploded into a cloud of dark smoke. Harpie's Brother roared in anger as his Life Points went down completely.

**C: 1100  
H: 0**

Chazz dusted himself off as the disks deactivated, "First one of my many virtual victims,"

Harpie's Brother glared at him as his deck glowed. Soon, his disk and deck disappeared. Seconds later, the orb of light appeared again and from it, the other Harpie creatures appeared around him. The Harpie Sisters knelt down, worried for the male while the younger Harpie children hugged him tightly, glaring at Chazz.

"You won this, human...but don't think that you'll get another victory if you come around our forest again," Harpie's Brother growled, unfurling his wings, "Back to the trees everyone!"

Almost instantly, each Harpie jumped high into the air and flew towards their nest, leaving the duelists again.

Chazz smirked and turned, "Who da man?"

"You okay kid?"

"He looks like he's alright...,"

"He ain't dead...that's good enough for me,"

Chazz fell over when he saw the others standing over the stranger who was captured by the Harpies, instead of cheering for his victory.

"You guys suck," the black clad duelist mumbled into the dirt.

After untying they untied the stranger, the duelists had to make room as Drake flew right into him, tackling him to the ground.

"Not again," Alexis and Christina shook their heads.

Jaden held out his hand to help the kid up, "You alright?"

The boy nodded and took Jaden's hand, "Yeah, I'm great thanks to your friend. I thought I'd be bird food," he shivered, "How'd you all find me, anyway?"

Everyone pointed to Drake, who was licking the boy's face, "He led us here," they said together.

Laughing, the boy pushed Drake away, "Good boy, Drake! You found help for me! I owe you one!"

"He's your pet?" Alexis looked at the two of them, "I guess what Harpie's Brother was saying was true...monsters are hunted and tamed,"

"Hell no, not Drake!" the boy shook his head vigorously, "Drake is not some wild animal, he's a good friend of mine, I don't treat him like some of the people in the villages! Oh, by the way," he held out his hand, "My name's Evan, nice to meet you guys,"

After exchanging pleasantries, Khamille walked over Chazz's depressed body and picked up a heavy sack from the field, right where Harpie's Brother was standing during his duel. She opened up the bag and saw that inside, dozens of gold pieces filled the leather sack.

"Hey guys!" she turned and waved it at them, "Check it out! Money!"

Like a gunshot, Siho darted over and snatched the bag away from her, holding it close to him, "Uhm...I'll watch over it!"

Khamille rolled her eyes and leafed through her booklet, "I bet the game info has this inside...,"

Alexis walked over to her, hands behind her back, "What exactly are you looking for?"

"Something...," Khamille flipped through a few pages before coming to a stop, "AH! Here we go. It says here, that when one wins a duel, whether it be against a wild Duel Monster, a duelist, or a Game Marshall, you will recieve a prize, as well as some gold that you can use later on for the game," she looked up at the sky, "Wonder what the prize is for this duel?"

"Oh, I dunno but if I had to guess I'd say...," Jordan walked past them and picked up a card from the ground, "A Harpie's Brother card?"

A pitiful moan emanated from Chazz's spot on the ground.

"That's all? A common card?!"

"I guess you get cards of the monsters you beat," Alexis shrugged, took the card from her cousin and tossed it to Chazz, "Here you go,"

Another moan was heard.

Alexis rolled her eyes, "Big baby...you won the duel, what more do you want?"

"How about praise? Praise for kicking his butt, praise for a great strategy, and praise for being a kickass duelist?!"

Jordan shook his head, "Sorry man, but you're only qualified for butt kicking praise...,"

"WHAT?!"

**-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Kilnorc: -cracks neck- man, that was a long chapter! Hopefully, ya'll liked it! I got a good feeling about this fic, I really do...13 reviews for one chapter...bwhaaha. awesome. Anyhoo, props to DarkScytheQueen for helping me out with this chapter. Later guys, til next time!**

**P.S. hope i didn't screw up -crosses fingers-**

**P.P.S. as you could prbly see, I love to bash Chazz...he's fun to bash!**


	3. The Eight Lords

**The Eight Lords**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX**

**-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

"So, Evan, what brought you out to this place, anyway?"

Jaden walked alongside of Evan and his Baby Dragon friend, his friends leading the group through Harpie Forest. Chazz was still moping about how no one, particularly Alexis, thought how good his victory against the Harpie Brother was.

Evan sighed, took of his cap and ran a hand through his blonde hair, "I came looking for help for my village,"

"Help?" Alexis looked at him, "Is something wrong?"

Evan nodded, "It's like this: there's a big war between Dragons going on in this area, between the southern Dragon Clan, and the northern Dragon Clan. It wouldn't be so bad, I mean, they normally don't get us humans involved, but my village is smack dab in the middle of the warzone!"

"Warring Dragon Clans?" Christina turned to Siho, "Is it just me, or does this sound a lot like the first _Breath of Fire_ game?"

Siho shrugged a little as Evan continued his story.

"It's because of this war, that not many people think most monsters are really nice. I thought, if I could get them to help out, the Harpie Clan could aid my village. But, obviously, it didn't go so well," he sighed as they reached the outer area of the forest, "I've about given up on my village,"

"Uhm...is your village...a small town just down this path?" Christina asked slowly.

"Yes, why?" Evan looked at her.

Christina pointed ahead and everyone followed her finger...to see the sight of a peaceful looking village in the distance. The same village was currently being bombarded by fireballs from flocks and flocks of Kourmori Dragons.

Evan paled, "Oh no, not again!"

Before anyone could stop him, Evan broke into a dead run for his village, Drake flying right behind him.

"Evan!"

"Idiot!" Chazz shook his head, "So, does this mean we have to go after-," he stopped and watched as the others ran after Evan, right into the blazing village, "Aw, crap,"

-----

The village was in flames, pillars of smoke rising into the air as people screamed for help. Above them, the huge flock of Koumori Dragons continued their bombardment, firing off blast after blast. As Jaden and the others entered the village, they couldn't find Evan or Drake in the crowd of fleeing people.

"This is friggin' nuts!" Christina shouted, ducking to just barely avoid a large orb of firepower, which exploded a short distance behind her, "This is like the first _Dungeons and Dragons_ movie!"

"Will you stop with the movie references?!" Chazz shouted at her, "How the hell can you be talking about that crap with Dragons attacking?!"

Christina opened her mouth to retort, but another blast cut her off. Jaden tried his best to locate Evan, but was unsuccessful. However, he was successful in attracting attention of a nearby armored soldier. He quickly rode up to them on his horse, a stern look across his face.

"Children, I do not know who you are, but it is not safe to be out in the open! Please, find shelter immediately!"

Jaden frowned, "Hey, look we-,"

"Soldier!" the guard yelled to a nearby warrior.

The warrior ran up to him and saluted, "Captain!"

"Take these children and put them in protective custody!"

"Aye, sir!" the soldier saluted again and turned to the group, "C'mon kids, it's not safe here!"

Unwilling to argue and get into more trouble then they already were, the group of eight followed the soldier to a nearby building that seemed packed with people. When they stepped into the shelter, they saw that many of the people were already in bandages and their clothes were burnt or torn...making them look like nothing but rags.

"Man, Evan said it was bad, but I didn't know it was _this _bad," Alexis breathed, taking a seat in a nearby empty corner.

Bastion nodded, "This may be a simulation game, but even I'm starting to feel a little depressed because of these poor souls,"

The group waited anxiously, hearing the sounds of screams, explosions, and the Koumori Dragons as the raid raged on. But, after what seemed like an eternity...a new noise reached their ears, as well as the ears of the suffering refugees.

"It's Lord Revastan! Lord Revastan has finally returned to us!"

Seconds later, a new roar ripped through the air. This one sounded deeper, more fierce...superior to the Koumori Dragons. Scrambling to a nearby window, everyone in the shelter watched as a magnificent Dragon flew through the air, roaring and firing off blasts of power at the now retreating Koumori Dragons. The new Dragon was much larger than the Koumori's and it had a beautiful coat of golden scales on it's back and silver scales on it's underbelly. On top of it's back, was a cloaked rider, who wielded a wicked looking blade.

Even from that distance, Christina recognized the blade.

"That's the Sword of Dragon's Soul!"

Siho glanced at her, then turned back to the window, "You sure?"

"Hell yeah!" Christina nodded rapidly, "I'm sure of it! Who the hell is this Lord?!"

A cold scoff made her turn her head, to look at an older man wrapped in a tattered blanket. The man had a scowl on his face, and a look of hate in his eyes.

"You got something to say, old timer?" Chazz asked, glancing at the man.

The man nodded, "Aye, I do lad. Everyone thinks it's a good thing that the 'Almighty' Lord Revastan, Game Marshal, has returned, but in reality, all of our troubles are because of that damned Lord!" he shook his head, "They call him a hero, instead of tossing him to a pack of dragons...idiots,"

Chazz smirked, "If this Lord is so strong, I'd love to duel him...I bet I could beat his wrinkled butt easily!"

Alexis rolled her eyes, "Then everyone will know that you can wail on an elderly Lord, Chazz. Good plan," she muttered.

Chazz could only all fall over at her words, "Lexi...,"

As the others waited patiently, and while Jordan tried to get onto Chazz's case about him calling his cousin Lexi, the doors to the shelter opened and a group of armed men stood in the doorway.

"Good people!" the captain from before cried out, "Your Lord Revastan has returned and routed the invading dragons back to the Southern Border. You are free to come out!"

Cheers and mutterings rippled through the shelter and everyone began to file out. When the gang left the shelter, they saw the damage that the dragon's had done to the town. Rubble and smoking ruins were pretty much what anyone could see in any direction. Wounded citizens of the village limped around, covered in blankets and bandages. Bodies of slain Koumori Dragons could be seen either in the street, or ontop of a couple of ruins.

"Damn," Khamille shook her head, "This is horrible...worse than when we first entered the village,"

"Now, you see why I had to look for help,"

Everyone turned to see Evan and Drake behind them, Evan's head wrapped in a gauze bandage and his arm in a sling, Drake hovering next to him, looking far better than his friend considering he only had a few bruises.

"There you are!" Alexis walked over to him, "Evan, what happened to you?"

Evan shook his head slowly, "I don't know...I think I got in a dragon blast. The last thing I remember before passing out was seeing the Koumori's fly over head...they were being chased by a beautiful dragon of gold and silver,"

"That was Lord Revastan," Jaden explained, "He came and saved the village from the dragon raid,"

Evan smiled and nodded, "The Lord has always been there for us...he's a good man, a fine duelist. However, some people think he's the cause of all this,"

"Yeah, an elder in the shelter was insulting him," Bastion recalled, "But, tell me, Evan. What is a Game Marshal? The old man called him that?"

"A Game Marshal, or Guild Master," Evan winced and held his head, "A Game Marshal is considered the greatest duelist out of all the people in their region in the world. There are eight of them total, and all of them are incredibly strong. Lord Revastan is one of them, and as you can guess, this area is where he rules,"

Chazz scoffed, "Is that so? I take it he lives nearby,"

Evan looked at him warily, "Yes...?"

"Where's this old geezer live?"

"At Revastan Manor...a short journey from here down the main road," Evan raised an eyebrow, "Why do you want to know?"

Chazz punched his palm and cracked his knuckles, "I'm in the mood to take this guy down a notch. Show me where this old fart lives, I'll overthrow this Lord and show him that it's time for some new blood!"

"I don't think that's a good idea," Evan shook his head, "Trust me on this,"

"Why?" Chazz brushed past the others and leaned forward, "You think I'll win and become your new Lord? You're scared of me, aren't you?"

"No," Evan said calmly, "I'm only warning you that it's not a good idea, because the last twenty people who thought they could overthrow Lord Revastan...," he trailed off and clicked his tongue, "Let's just say they regretted it...those who returned, anyway,"

Jaden put his arms behind his head, a grin on his face, "This guy actually sounds like a fun opponent! I can't wait to take him on!"

Chazz glared at him, "Who said he's yours?! I'm the one who's gonna take this old geezer down, Jaden! Let someone else have the spotlight for once, dammit!"

"Okay, okay, geez," Jaden held up his hands, "Chill out, Chazz...if you want to duel him, you can have first dibs,"

"Glad you see it my way," Chazz snorted and crossed his arms, "About damn time,"

"Yeah, it's no big Chazz," Christina turned away, a grin crossing her face too, "You get first dibs, and when you get slaughtered by the Lord, Jaden can avenge you while you get back to the real world,"

"WHY YOU LITTLE-!!" Chazz leapt at Christina, but was quickly subdued by Bastion, Siho, and Jordan, "Lemme at her, lemme at her!"

As he stuggled to keep the raging duelist at bay, Bastion turned to Evan, who was petting Drake's head slowly, "Tell me, Evan...since we seem to have two _very_ willing volunteers to duel this Lord Revastan, where might we find him exactly?"

Evan looked at them all, then shook his head, "You guys are nuts...fine," he pointed to the other side of the village, where it seemed to have less damage than the rest, "Go down the dirt road from this entrance of my village. There's a fork in the road...one goes to the next region, and the other one goes to Mount Dracon and Revastan Manor. You have to go through the Dracon Forest to reach the Manor...but if you can get through Dracon Forest, then Lord Revastan should be able to duel your friends,"

"Why do you say_ if_?" Bastion inquired.

"Because, that forest is filled with dragons," Evan raised an eyebrow, "You guys must really be outsiders of the village to not know that. There's like...one or two strong duelists who rule the forest. If you can get past them, then Lord Revastan will know of your victory, and grant your friends a duel,"

Bastion nodded, "I see...,"

Christina turned to Khamille, "I thought this was a tournament, not an RPG!" she hissed.

Khamille shrugged, "Hey, I didn't make the game. You want answers, talk to my brother when we get outta here, alright?"

"Alright...," Christina sighed and turned back to the others, "Gotta admit though...either way, I'm looking forward to dueling these eight Game Marshals. They sound like Gym Leaders from Pokemon,"

"Aw, Pokemon sucks, Duel Monsters owns Pokemon," **(1)**

-----

"They _do_ sound like the Gym Leaders," Kairi said thoughtfully, "I can't wait to see how this goes,"

"Good. Pay attention when the duels happen, you'll learn something about them for your turn," a nearby technician advised, "Just-,"

She stopped talking and everyone watched as the screens flickered, going from a static filled view to scrambled views of the game. It only lasted a few moments, but the screens returned to normal.

"What the hell was that?" the head technician demanded, "Did we get a power surge or something?"

"I'm not sure...most likely, it's the game getting adjusted. It was happening earlier too, right when they went in,"

-----

"Oh, it's adjusting alright...but not the way you think it is!"

From it's place in a darkened room, lit only by the light of a computer, the figure leaned back in it's chair and grinned wickedly.

"It's not time for the new players..._yet_...they'll already be thrown off with the no escape program I slipped in there," the figure rubbed it's hands, "I can't wait for this to kick in...this is gonna be _fun_!"

A loud beeping sound from the monitor made the grin disappear. Muttering, the figure clicked on a blinking window and leaned in close to the screen. As it's eyes stared at the glowing monitor, the figure began to growl.

"No! No, no, no, no, _no_!" the figure banged the desk hard, "That damn punk! I don't know who first created that damn PC AI, but he's been a nuisance for too long! He comes out of nowhere and destroys the other things I've put into the game...but not this time. Oh no...not this time. This time, I'm ready for him!"

On the monitor was a picture of a young man, about nineteen or so, with short turqouise hair and blue eyes. He wore an open white jacket, matching pants and black boots, an old model duel disk on his arm. The figure stared long and hard at the young man before leaning back in his chair again.

"Enjoy what time you have left, punk...this is the last time you'll screw with me,"

**-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Kilnorc: Well, that's done! I hope you guys liked this chapter, I enjoyed it myself...I just hope that I got some good info in, without confusing anybody, LOL. Anyhoo, I'm aware that this does seem to fit an RPG style VR game than a tourney, and I'm working on details with a friend of mine, so if it IS confusing, I do apologize, for that was not my intention.**

**(1) This is a reference to a joke I've heard...I'm sure you all have heard it, in some form at least. I don't recall it myself, but that's the best I can remember it, LOL.**

**Later guys!**


	4. Legendary Temple of Horus

**Legendary Temple of Horus  
**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX.**

**-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Kairi sighed as she idly spun around in a wheel-chair, somewhat bored out of her skull. At first, looking at the technology and VR game from the outside was fun, but now, she was rather bored about her non-gaming situation.

As the technician's went back and forth, gathering data on the game, Kairi thumbed through her Duel Monsters deck. She had bought some new cards, and was hoping to use them in the VR game, but it looked like she would have to wait for their debut.

While she thumbed through her cards, she heard the large doors to the computer lab open up and she turned to see Khamille's brother, Kristerr, walk briskly towards the main area.

"Alright, give me details, people, how are we doing here?" the male Tong asked, clapping his hands loudly, "How's my baby sister and her friends doing?"

"Well, they already won a duel against Harpie's Brother in the Harpie Forest, and they're on their way to the first Game Master, Mr Tong, sir," one of the female technician's reported, "Oh, and that pain in the ass Chazz kid got kicked in the groin,"

"Ah, so my sister's doing well," Kristerr nodded before taking notice of Kairi, "Hey...what happened with you, you lost already?"

Kairi shot a light glare at him. At least he seemed to remember her.

"For your information, pal, I didn't get a chance to play, there are no tubes left, so I'm out here waiting it out,"

"Ah, I see," Kristerr nodded, rubbing the back of his neck, "Sorry,"

"Don't worry about it," Kairi pulled her legs up on the chair and swayed from side to side, "God, I am SO bored!"

"Why don't you go and see if the tech people need any help with anything?"

"I said I was bored, not crazy," Kairi turned her chair around to look at the monitor behind her and donned the headset from before, "Might as well see what's going on,"

-----

The group of eight, with Evan in tow, left the slowly recovering village and began to walk down the dirt path on the other side of the village. Reluctantly, but eventually, Evan agreed to guide them through Dracon Forest and to Revastan Manor. Turned out, he had to go there anyway. He had been there once before, got his butt kicked by the Lord, and left something behind.

So now, they were walking down the dirt path, leading away from the village, their destination set in their minds. Needless to say, Chazz was excited about de-throning the Lord. As they walked, Chrissy and a few of the others learned some things about the VR world from Evan while Khamille leafed through the game booklet. When she glanced away from the book for a split second, she noticed something.

"Huh...this is interesting,"

"What now?"

Khamille grabbed hold of Chazz's arm and pulled it up, letting the others see his duel disk, "Check this out!"

"It's a duel disk, we all know what it is," Chazz snapped, pulling his arm back, "Why are you acting so surprised, you suddenly forget what it was?"

Khamille's eye twitched slightly, "No...I noticed that your Life Point counter was back to full points,"

Chazz looked down at his duel disk and sure enough, his disk was back to 4000 Life Points, "What's so weird about that?"

"Well, from what I've heard about the first VR game Kaiba made," Khamille thumbed through the booklet from before, "Life Points stayed the same...that must've just been the prototype of the game. We should consider ourselves lucky that our points go back to full capacity...otherwise, if we met up with a Game Master and our points were at full power, we would have a smaller chance of surviving the duel,"

"Then where's the challenge and fun in that?" Jaden asked, looking somewhat disappointed.

"I think it's just because we're test running it, trying to work out the kinks," Khamille reasoned, "After they measure how hard this can be, they'll probably alter the game's programming so that points won't restore themselves,"

Bastion nodded thoughtfully as they approached a fork in the road, a sign posted in the middle of it, "That makes sense...they don't want to make it too difficult, otherwise, where's the target audience for this game, if it's too hard?"

"Good point, Bastion," Jaden turned his attention to the sign at the middle of the road, "This must be what Evan told us about,"

"How do ya know?" Jordan asked.

Jaden pointed to the sign, "We go right if we want to go to Dracon Forest, and we go left if we want to...," he frowned, "...huh. Can't make that out,"

"Evan said one way went to the next region, and one way went to the Manor," Alexis shrugged, "Guess we know where the left path goes then,"

"Bingo!" Evan nodded and crossed his arms, "Glad to know you guys listened to me at least a little bit,"

"Enough yapping!" Chazz barked, heading down the right path, "Let's get this over with! The sooner we get there, the sooner I beat the pants of the old-timer!"

"ENOUGH ALREADY, CHAZZ!" more than half of the group shouted at the arrogant duelist as they followed him, "WE GET THE POINT!"

-----

"Well...I gotta say, I didn't see this coming,"

"Nope,"

"Think we should have bought a map at the village?"

The group of duelists sat around in a large circle, having lost themselves during their trek in the woods. Chazz was sitting on a large rock, arms folded and his foot tapping the virtual dirt anxiously.

"Nice place though," Christina looked up at the tall trees around them, "Reminds me of Harpie Forest, but hopefully, we don't run into those winged dorks this time...,"

"Why not?" Siho looked at his friend, "You scared of them?"

"Not scared, just really annoyed," the brunette rubbed her neck, "I don't get something though,"

"What's that?"

"If this place is supposed to be filled with Dragons...," she looked around, looking at the empty area all around them, "Where the hell are they?"

"They probably saw me coming and bolted,"

"Not you entirely, Chazz, just your face,"

"What did you just say to me, Rhodes?!"

"Bring it! Lexi and I can take you on!"

"Don't involve me in this!"

"See?! Lexi's on my side!"

"I didn't say that, and don't call me 'Lexi' !"

"Guys...,"

"C'mon Chrissy, there's plenty of Princeton for you to beat!"

"Guys...,"

"Seriously, join us!"

"GUYS!"

"WHAT?!" the three of them snapped their heads to Chrissy and Siho, who were staring something off to the side.

They followed their friends gazes and they were suprirsed to see a large, very old, stone building standing a short distance away, just a few yards from the clearing.

"Where the hell did that come from?" Chazz muttered, rising to his feet, "That wasn't there before,"

"Evan, what is that?" Jaden turned to their guide, "You got any idea?"

Evan stared at the building, "I...I don't believe it. It actually exists,"

"What actually exists?" Alexis asked, now turning to him too, "What's going on?"

Evan shook his head slowly, "There's a legend in this region. People say that a long time ago, there was a powerful Dragon with immense power...it was worshiped so much for it's strength and wisdom, they made a religious sect, made solely to worship and serve it,"

Jaden whistled, "Wow," he looked back at the building, "Doesn't seem like anyone's been around here for years though,"

"No, it doesn't, does it?" Evan removed his cap and ran a hand through his hair, "I wonder if the other stories about this thing is true,"

"What other stories? There isn't anything about a mystical triangle that holds the power to alter time?"

"Chrissy, I swear, you keep making movie references, I'll beat the crap outta ya,"

"Like you could, Lara Croft fanboy,"

Evan replaced his cap, "There are other stories...stories that say when the sect was worshiping the Dragon, they amassed a fortune of treasure inside the temple. For years, my village has looked for it, but we've never seen it!"

"Fortune? Alright, let's go check this out!"

Before anyone could stop them, both Siho and Christina took off like a shot and ran towards the temple, disappearing into the dark shadows of the doorway.

Alexis groaned, "What is it with Siho and treasure?"

"I dunno, but I can't be as bad as Kaiba's problem," Chazz muttered under his breath.

"What problem?"

"He's got a Dragon fetish," Chazz smiled smugly, "I know the symptoms, Lexi,"

Alexis facefaulted, "Seeing as you constantly use your Armed Dragons, I expect you would,"

Chazz remained silent, mostly in shock at what his "darling Lexi" had just said to him.

-----

"Holy...,"

"...crap!"

Siho and Christina stood in a huge, beautifully ornate stone room with carvings and paintings on the walls. At the end of the room, on a very long table. It sat in front of a massive gate and held a huge amount of food and littered along the floor at the walls was the beautiful sight of gold and jewels. Needless to say, Siho went for his treasure while Christina went for hers.

"This friggin' rocks!" Siho said excitedly as he began to stuff the gold into his pockets. He looked over his shoulder and paused in his looting, watching his best friend stuff her face with the food, "Chrissy, you _do_ know that's not real right?"

"Tell that to my stomach,"

Siho rolled his eyes and went back to his thieving. He stuffed as much gold in his pockets as he could, and began to done the precious jewelry nearby, when he realized something.

_This place is supposed to be empty, but the treasure is sparkling like it's been taken care of, and there's fresh-looking food on a large table in front of a **very** big gate...oh crap!_

"Chrissy!" he spun around to yell at his friend to get away from the table, but when he turned around, he felt the cool metal tip of a sword against his throat.

Now, instead of it being the two of them in the room by themselves, there were many men in white tunics and dark capes, golden headdresses ontop of their heads. Christina had her arms held behind her back by a man who looked different than the rest, for he had a duel disk on his arm and a rather angry look on his face.

"Intruders, you have invaded the Temple of Horus," he barked, his voice echoing off the walls, "You have eaten our offering and have stolen from Horus' treasure horde. For these acts, only the most severe punishment is appropriate!"

He turned to a nearby man, who nodded and pulled hard on a large lever. A loud grinding noise filled the room while Siho and Christina watched as the huge gate at the end of the room began to rise off the ground, sending chunks of dirt and layers of dust falling to the ground. When it went as far as it could, the apparent leader handed Christina off to one of the other caped men and turned to the open gate.

He held up his arms, "ALMIGHTY HORUS! WE, YOUR HUMBLE SERVANTS, HAVE CAUGHT TRESPASSERS AND THIEVES IN YOUR HOLY DOMAIN! WE OFFER THEM TO YOU AS SACRIFICES FOR THEIR CRIMES!"

A few moments passed, and a loud growling sound emanated from the darkness of the gate as a pair of large glowing red eyes appeared in the blackness.

"Oh, crap!" both Siho and Christina shouted at the same time.

"GUYS!"

The two Slifers snapped their heads around to see Jaden and the others run into the huge room, skidding to a stop when they caught sight of what was going on and seeing the other inhabitants of the temple.

Jordan and Chazz stepped protectively in front of Alexis (who shoved Chazz away), while the others backed into each other, careful not to leave one another. Jaden looked carefully around the room, then let his eyes settle on the glowing eyes in the gate and his captive friends.

"Something tells me...this isn't a good thing,"

"NO DUH!"

**-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Kilnorc: Well, that chapter's taken care of, mwahahaha. Seems like our friends have gotten themselves into a mess, haven't they? Well, that should teach Chrissy and Siho not to act on basic instinct...**

**What will happen to them? Find out next chapter, folks! **


	5. Trial By Black Flame

**Trial by Black Flame**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX.**

**-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

"You outsiders have invaded and desecrated this sanctuary...for that, you all must be punished,"

Alexis, Jordan, Siho, Chrissy, and Jaden exchanged glances, all of them thinking the same thing. This was just like what happened at Duel Academy when the Gravekeepers captured them and tried to bury them alive. Shortly after entering the temple and seeing their friends being held captive, they too, were taken into custody by the men in the capes and headdresses. It was that memory of the Gravekeepers that gave Jaden an idea.

He turned to the leader, "How about I duel ya for our freedom?"

The leader chuckled, "You wish to duel us? Boy, you must have rocks in your skull, why else would you suggest such a stupid idea?"

Jaden looked behind the leader, to the glowing eyes in the darkness of the open gate, then back at him, "What's the matter? Afraid you're gonna get your butt whooped by a kid?"

Murmurs rippled in the crowd surrounding them. The leader puffed out his chest and exhaled loudly, "You are bold to not only challenge a servant to Horus, but also to call one a coward,"

"Bold, but stupid, if you ask me," Alexis muttered under her breath, "Jaden's gonna make it worse for us!"

"Just watch him work his magic...," Siho whispered, "Trust me,"

The leader of the robed people turned to the open gate and stared at the glowing eyes. As he stared, a series of low growls boomed out of the darkness, and when they ceased, he bowed his head and turned back around to Jaden.

"Very well, invader...we shall duel. I win, you and your thieving comrades become sacrifices to the great Horus," he nodded to the eyes behind him, "You win, you will go free,"

"Can we leave with some of the treasure?" Siho piped up, earning a hard nudge in the ribs from Jordan and Chazz.

The leader seemed to ignore Siho, and kept his eyes on Jaden, "What do you say, invader? Will you accept my terms?"

"Are you kidding?" Jaden grinned widely, "I'm all for it! Get your game on!"

"Excellent!" the leader held up his duel disk and a bright glow erupted from the darkened gate behind him. From the shadows came a large glowing orb that merged with his duel disk and Jaden could see a glowing card in the deck slot, with the rest of the man's deck.

-----

"This is gonna be interesting,"

"Yeah...I've seen the stats of this AI's deck, it's pretty strong. I dunno if Jaden can handle it,"

"Maybe...hey, where'd the girl go?"

"I'm right here!" Kairi rushed back to the console, holding a can of soda and a bag of M&M's in her hands, "Had to go to the vending machines to get a snack...no way am I gonna watch Jaden's duel on an empty stomach!"

Kristerr shook his head a little, "I hope he hasn't gotten rusty over the summer break so far,"

One of the female tech's looked at both him and Kairi, "I'm guessing...that Jaden's pretty good?"

"Oh, hell ya," Kairi nodded as she cracked open her can of soda, "You got no idea, sister!"

"Shh, they're about to start!" Kristerr hushed, snatching the bag of M&M's from Kairi.

"Hey!"

"I'm hungry, chill out,"

-----

"As I said before, you are very foolish to challenge the Sect of Horus, boy,"

"Whatevs...let's just do this already!"

Both of them raised their arms as their duel disks whirred to life, "DUEL!"

**H: 4000  
J: 4000**

"I shall go first, seeing as you are in no position to make the first move," the leader said as they both drew their hands, then drew his sixth card, "I summon Masked Dragon (1400/1100) in attack mode, and I place two cards facedown, then I end my turn," he declared as a red and white scaled dragon appeared on the field, growling at Jaden.

The Slifer grinned as he drew his card, "Nice monster...lemme show you mine," he looked at his hand, "You're in luck. I've been wanting to show these guys off, since they're new, and I finally got my chance. I summon Elemental Hero The Heat (1600/1200)!"

A new monster arose on the field. It looked like an Elemental Hero alright, but this one was nothing like Jaden's other monsters. It had a strongly built body, and a magnificent body suit of white armor with gold and crimson flames painted on the legs, arms, and chest. An ornate red and gold helmet was on it's head, with wing-like features coming out of the forehead area.

"Nice monster...," Christina said in hushed awe, "Sweet...,"

"Heat's got a sweet effect too. Heat gains 200 attack points for each Elemental Hero I have on my field!"

E-Hero The Heat (1800/1200)

"Heat, take out that Masked Dragon!" Jaden ordered, pointing to the enemy Dragon, "Hero Heatwave!"

The new monster darted over to the Masked Dragon and threw a hard right, his fist blazing with an intense flame. The Dragon roared as the fist made contact, then exploded into nothingness, clearing Horus' Servant's field.

**H: 3600  
J: 4000**

"Next, I'll place one card facedown and end my turn," Jaden said as he slipped a card into his disk.

"I activate my Masked Dragon's ability!" Horus' Servant barked, "When he is destroyed in battle, I can Special Summon one Dragon-Type monster from my deck with 1500 or less attack points to the field!" he took out his deck, fanned it out, plucked a card out, reshuffled and put it back, "With Masked Dragon's ability, I summon Spirit Ryu (1000/1000) in attack mode,"

Jaden watched as a small, blue scaled dragon with a glowing tail appeared, hovering above the ground.

_That's not much of a Dragon..._ he thought _...what's he doing?_

"That's not all," the leader of the Sect drew his card, "I summon Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV4 (1600/1000) in attack mode!"

A large, metallic dragon appeared on the field, it's glowing red eyes staring down at Jaden and his new Hero.

"Next, I play the Spell known as Level Up!" the leader slipped a card into his disk, "With this card, I can bypass all the requirements of Horus' effect and summon Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6 (2300/1600)!"

The first incarnation of Horus glowed a bright light and as it did, it began to change...size and wingspan in particular. When the light died down, Jaden was now staring down a much larger, metallic Dragon with sharp claws and metal feathers jetting out of it's wings.

"Attack with Black Flame Torrent!"

Horus opened his mouth and let out a stream of pure black fire, which engulfed Heat completely. Jaden could hear the anguished cry of his Elemental Hero as he was destroyed mercilessly.

"Ha!" Jaden pressed a button on his disk, "Nice try, but I won't go down that easy! I activate my facedown Trap card, Hero Signal!"

Jaden's facedown card flipped over and an intense beam of light with a black, bold H in the middle of it shot outward and touched the ceiling.

"This allows me to Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Elemental Hero from my hand or deck, whenever one of the Heroes on my field is destroyed in battle," Jaden fanned out his deck and plucked a card out, "With the effect of Hero Signal, I summon the Elemental Hero Lady Heat (1300/1000),"

Another new Hero, or rather, Heroine, appeared on the field. She wore similar armor to The Heat, but it actually showed of her skin in some areas, and her face and golden hair weren't hidden by a mask.

**H: 3600  
J: 3500**

"Before I end my turn, allow me to use the effect of Horus, yet again!" the leader grinned, "When Horus destroys a monster in battle, I can sacrifice his current form to summon forth his next, and more powerful incarnation! I summon Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8 (3000/1800)!"

Gasps of both awe and shock rippled around Jaden as Horus evolved once again. This time, he was huge! He actually looked like an actual dragon, with a long tail, a wide, impressive wingspan, and a set of impressive scales...all in metal.

"I end my turn, boy,"

_Jeez, why is it everytime I duel a bad guy, they call me boy? I have a name!_ Jaden thought as he drew his card, "I'll place two cards facedown, then I'll summon the Elemental Hero Ocean (1500/1000)!"

A blue-skinned, fish-like Hero appeared on the field, wearing white armor and carrying a pronged spear in it's hand.

"Ocean, attack Spirit Ryu with Deep Sea Spear!"

"I think not, boy!" the leader pressed a button on his disk, "I play Negate Attack! Not only does this Trap card stop your attack cold, it ends the Battle Phase, meaning you can't try to attack again!"

Jaden grit his teeth as Ocean came into contact with a swirling vortex, then bounced back over to him and Lady Heat.

"Sorry, Ocean, maybe next time," Jaden took a card from his hand, "Before I end my turn, I'll play this Spell card called Oil! This lets me take a Fire-Attribute monster from my Graveyard and add it to my hand. C'mon back to me, Heat!"

"Not so fast! I activate Horus' special ability! He allows me to negate the activation and effect of a Spell card!"

Jaden's eyes widened, "Say what?!"

"Not only that, but with this effect, he can destroy that card!" the leader chuckled as Jaden's Oil card was blasted and sent to the Graveyard, "Meaning you can't bring back that monster of yours,"

_Man..._ Jaden looked at the last card he had in his hand, _That's an annoying effect...  
_

"Hurry up, boy!"

"I'm hurrying, I'm hurrying," Jaden turned Lady Heat to the side on his disk, "I'll place Lady Heat in defense mode, but before I end my turn, I activate her ability!"

The leader raised an eyebrow.

"For every Elemental Hero I have face-up on the field, I deal you 200 points of damage...and since I have _two_ Heroes...," he trailed off, grinning.

**H: 3200  
J: 3500**

-----

"I don't get this...,"

"Get what, kiddo?"

Kairi looked away from the screen, towards Kristerr, "That leader guy calls that big dragon, Horus, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Horus isn't a dragon, though," Kairi frowned, "Horus is an Egyptian God with a bird's head and the body of a human. How the hell can an Egyptian God go from that to _that_?" she asked, jerking a thumb to the dragon onscreen.

"Don't ask me, ask Pegasus, he's the guy making these card designs,"

-----

The leader of the sect drew his card, "I sacrifice my Spirit Ryu in order to summon Luster Dragon #2 (2400/1400)!"

The smaller blue dragon disappeared and a large, beautiful, jewel encrusted dragon appeared in it's place, snorting smoke.

"That's not good," Jaden hissed.

"No, it's not, especially when I play this!" the sect leader pressed a button on his disk, "Activate facedown Trap card, Dragon's Rage! When this card is active on the field, and a defensive monster of yours is attacked by a monster with more attack points, the difference between defense points and attack points are dealt to you as damage!"

"...okay, _definitely_ not good,"

"Luster Dragon #2, attack Elemental Hero Ocean with Emerald Flame!"

Jaden's aquatic spearsman roared in pain as a blast of green-colored flame roasted him alive, sending him to the Graveyard.

**H: 3200  
J: 2600**

"Horus, attack Lady Heat with Black Flame Torrent!"

Seconds after Ocean was vaporized, Lady Heat was cooked to a crisp with the dark fire. Jaden looked away as she was blasted to ashes.

**H: 3200  
J: 600**

"JADEN!" Alexis and Christina shouted from the sides.

"Dammit, Yuki, hang in there!" Siho yelled encouragingly, "Hang in there and kick this freak's ass!"

"You would do well to ignore those fools, boy," the follower of Horus shook his head, "There is no possible way a mere mortal like yourself can defeat the power of almighty Horus. NOTHING CAN DEFEAT OUR LORD HORUS!"

"Oh, get over yourself," Jaden pressed a button on his disk, "I activate my other facedown card, Hero Counterattack! I can only activate this when an Elemental Hero is destroyed in battle," he held up the only card in his hand, "You randomly pick a card from my hand, no brainer there, and if it's an Elemental Hero, I get to summon it to the field!"

The leader frowned under his headdress, "Fine, I pick that card...not like I have a choice,"

Jaden grinned as he slapped it onto his field, "I summon the Elemental Hero Woodsman (1000/2000)!"

A strange human-like creature appeared. It looked like a miniature figure of the Jolly Green Giant, but on one side of it's body, was a thick hide of tree bark covering arm and leg.

The leader scoffed, "Fool, what can that thing do against Horus?!"

"Nothing...but my Trap card can," Jaden's grin widened, "Did I forget? If the monster you chose is an Elemental Hero, not only is it Special Summoned, but the monster that destroyed my other Hero in battle, get's destroyed! So, say goodbye to Horus!"

The leader stared in horror as the metallic dragon broke apart and crumbled apart into rusty pieces, the red light dying from it's eyes.

"H-Horus! You killed Horus!" the leader glared at Jaden, "You may have killed our Lord, but Luster Dragon shall avenge it's ruler!" he looked at his hand, "I'll get you next turn, I end mine for now,"

_With Horus gone, I can now use Spell cards_ Jaden thought as he drew his next card, "Alright, first off, I activate my Woodsman's effect! I can use Woodsman's power to take Polymerization card from either my Graveyard or deck and add it to my hand," he fanned out his deck and plucked out his Spell card, "Next, I play my other Spell card, Pot of Greed, which allows me to draw two more cards!" he drew two more from his deck.

_C'mon, Jaden..._ Alexis pleaded mentally, _We're all counting on you!_

"I activate the Spell card, Heat Crystals!" Jaden's Graveyard began to glow, "I remove two Fire-Attribute monsters from my Graveyard and if any of them are any Fusion-Material monsters, I get to summon that Fusion monster!"

"Too bad you don't have any good monsters to fuse into a new one,"

"Don't be so sure!" Jaden removed Lady Heat and The Heat, "By removing my two Heroes, I summon forth, Elemental Hero Inferno (2300/1600)!!"

Everyone watched as a very large monster in white stepped out of a huge blaze of fire. It looked like a major upgrade of The Heat, it's deep red armor practically glowing in the light of the temple.

"HOLY CRAP!" Siho, Jordan, Chazz, and Christina shouted at the same time, "WHERE'D THE HELL YOU GET THAT?!"

"I'm far from done!" Jaden took another card from his hand and slipped into his field slot, "I play the Spell card known as Skyscraper!"

One of Jaden's trademark cards appeared on the field as towering modern city buildings rose from the floor.

Jaden grinned, "This Field Spell card gives my Heroes 1000 extra attack points, if the enemy they're attacking are stronger than them. Inferno, attack Luster Dragon #2 with Blazing Justice Fist!"

E-Hero Inferno (3300/1600)

Inferno stomped over to Luster Dragon #2 and slugged the gem-encrusted dragon hard with a fiery fist, obliterating it easily.

"Woodsman, your turn!"

Jaden's wooden Hero darted across the field and raked his sharp claws across the leader's torso, making him fall to a knee, holding his side.

**H: 1300  
J: 600**

"I end my turn,"

The sect leader rose back to his feet, shooting him a very hateful glare as he drew his card, "I summon Cave Dragon (2000/100) in attack mode, and I end my turn," he declared as a short, broad dragon appeared on his field.

-----

"I don't get it, why isn't he attacking with it? It's got enough points to end it!" Kairi frowned, confused.

"Because of Cave Dragon's effect...unless there is another Dragon-Type monster on the field with it, he cannot attack with it. Right now, Jaden's safe," Kristerr explained, "This won't last though...if Jaden wants to win, he better do it soon!"

-----

"Your move, boy,"

"Okay, seriously, stop calling me that," Jaden muttered as he drew his next card. When his eyes scanned the card, a confident look crossed his face.

"I play the Spell card, The Warrior Returning Alive! This card allows me to take a Warrior-Type monster from my Graveyard and add it to my hand," he reached down and grabbed a card from the slot, "I choose my Elemental Hero Ocean!" he inserted the final card in his hand into his disk, "Now, I play the Spell Polymerization! I use this card to fuse both Ocean and Woodsman to summon the Elemental Hero Terra Firma (2500/2000)!"

Another large and impressive Hero appeared on the field, this one looking like some kind of kid show superhero. It had a white suit of armor with blue crystals on it's shoulders and head, and a large red jewel in the middle of it's chest.

Christina tilted her head at the sight, "Dude, that thing looks like Frieza from Dragon Ball Z...,"

Her friends groaned loudly.

"It does!"

"Now, I activate the effect of Terra Firma!" Jaden pointed to Inferno, "I can sacrifice one Elemental Hero I have on the field and add that Hero's attack points to Terra's attack points. So, Terra Firma, say goodbye to Inferno and say hello to a power boost!" he said as Inferno exploded in a blaze of red hot flames.

E-Hero Terra Firma (4800/2000)

The leader's eyes widened and he stepped back, "4800 attack points?! IMPOSSIBLE!"

"Impossible? Doesn't look like it!" Jaden pointed at the Cave Dragon, "Terra Firma, attack Cave Dragon with Terra Homing!"

Terra Firma's hands glowed with a bright blue light before it ran across the field. It slashed Cave Dragon rapidly, light trailing behind each attack, and soon enough, the Cave Dragon roared before falling to the floor.

**H: 0  
J: 600**

"And that's game!" Jaden gave him his two-fingered salute, "Good duel, dude, that was fun!"

-----

Back in the real world, the technicians watching the duel stood there, their mouths hanging open at the victory. Kairi and Kristerr were the only ones unphased by it.

"Nice alternative...but you still should've just used both to attack him, Jaden," Kairi shrugged, "But, your deck, your Heroes...you use 'em the way you want,"

Kristerr grinned, "Glad to see that kid's not rusty at all,".

A loud buzzing sound made Kristerr reach into his pocket and pull out a small cellphone. He looked at the number and sighed, "I gotta take this. You guys keep me posted on this okay?".

Kairi and the others nodded as Kristerr walked out of the lab, holding the phone to his ear.

"I like Jaden's new Elemental Heroes," Kairi turned back to the screen, "I just hope they can live up to the rep of his other Heroes...,"

**---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Kilnorc: Well, that one's done. First off, I REALLY, REALLY hope I didn't make any mistakes in this one, cuz it was hard enough goin' back and forth with each new card effect, LOL. Secondly, to those who haven't read the manga, Jaden's new E-Heroes? Well, they're the Heroes that he usually uses in his duels, instead of all the ones we're familiar with in the anime! I figured, original arc could use some new cards, so why not new Heroes? Anyhoo, once again, hope it was good and I hope I didn't (bleep) things up...later ya'll!  
**


	6. Dragon Lord's Domain

**Dragon Lord's Domain**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX.**

**---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Kairi left the computer lab and walked up to the nearest vending machine, hoping to get another drink or a new snack. As she stood there, hands looking for change in her pockets, she could hear Kristerr's voice coming from around the corner.

Leaning to the side, she could see him on his cell phone.

_"O, bkit ka tumawag?"_

Kairi raised an eyebrow at the strange words coming out of Kristerr's mouth._  
_

Kristerr punched the nearest wall, "_Pota...Bakit hindi mo sinabi sa akin kanina?!_" he paused for a few moments,_ "Dapat ha, yung kapatid ko nasa loob! Kung anu-ano naman ginagawa iyang lecheng iyan...," _he paused again, "WHAT?!" Kristerr shut off his phone and punched the wall again.

Kairi gulped and leaned back in front of the vending machines, "Okay...Kristerr's pissed about something because he just lost it...," she looked back at him, "Didn't expect him to be an uber _Star Wars_ fan though,"

-----

"Lessee...with the eighteen hundred we got in Harpie Forest in addition to the hundred coins we won from the temple...we got nineteen hundred gold coins," Siho closed the bag and stuffed it into his jacket, "I'll just keep this safe," he muttered, eyes darting from side to side.

As the group walked through the forest, Christina walked up to Jaden and nudged him, "Why didn't you tell us that you got new Elemental Heroes?"

Jaden grinned, "I thought it'd be a nice surprise...watcha think of 'em?"

"They kickass man," Christina nodded, "Very cool...though, I do miss the ol' Wingman,"

"Yeah, I know what ya mean," Jaden nodded in agreement, "I figured it's just for the summer, you know? I got some new Heroes and I'd spend the summer learnin' how to use them...what better way than to use them in a VR game?"

"I guess so," Christina clicked her tongue and kept walking alongside Jaden in silence. After a bit, she turned her head back to see how the others were doing and suddenly came to a stop.

Everyone else saw her, came to a stop as well and looked behind them. Siho had stopped a short distance away and he now had his back to them, his head turning from side to side. Frowning, his best friend walked over to him.

"Siho?"

"We're not alone...we're being watched," Siho whispered.

Christina looked at him for a few seconds, then began to scan the trees as he did.

"What the hell's the holdup?" Chazz whined.

Christina shushed him and walked back to the others, "We have got to be quiet...real quiet,"

"The hell for?" Chazz snapped.

"Because, something is out there and it's watching us!"

Alexis stared at her, startled.

Christina rubbed her hands together and looked at the rest of her friends, "Trust me...Siho knows what he's talking about. If he feels something is wrong, then we gotta listen to him,"

"What are we supposed to do?" Jordan whispered.

His friend opened her mouth to speak, but as she did, a huge shadow flew over them and a loud roar boomed over head.

"HIDE!" Siho screamed, "DRAGON! HIDE RIGHT NOW!"

As quick as they could, Jaden and his friends darted for any cover they could find. Some of them hid behind bushes, while the rest of them took refuge under logs and behind thick trees. Jaden watched from his hiding place as a huge dragon soared overhead, circling around the forest, roaring as it did.

Uneasiness filled the area as the dragon soared overhead. Everyone watched as the dragon lingered for a short time, then sighed in relief as it disappeared from view, it's roars becoming more and more distant.

"Everyone okay?" Alexis asked as they came out of hiding.

Evan nodded, clutching his chest, "Man, I hate this place...if it weren't for my duel disk getting lost at the Manor, I never would be in here...,"

Chazz scoffed, "Don't get why we had to hide...if this is all virtual reality, what's the danger?"

Khamille whapped him over the head, "Because, dum-dum! Even if this is just a game, it's better to be safe then sorry! We have no idea what would happen to us if we get caught by a wild dragon, and personally, I'd rather not find out!"

Siho cracked his neck, "Alright, that was a close call. We should-," he stopped and looked around.

"Aw man, don't tell me there's another one comin'," Evan whined, "I don't think my heart can take it,"

Siho shook his head slightly, "Where's Christina?"

That's when the rest of the group noticed that their Slifer friend wasn't with them.

"Chrissy?"

"Christina?"

A loud snapping sound made them spin around to see Christina fall to the ground from behind a tree, a nervous look on her face.

Siho sighed in relief, "Thank the gods...," he muttered and started walking towards her, "Chrissy, you baka, I'm gonna-,"

The male Slifer came to a stop when he saw Christina back away from the tree as a large figure in a cape stalked out into view. It wore some kind of bone as armor around his body and a disturbing helmet on it's head, made out of the same thing. From his shoulders, beginning just under the bone armor, was a long cape that fluttered behind him as he walked.

Evan's eyes widened, "Lord of Dragons...!"

Jaden looked back at him, then at the bone-covered man that approached them. He stepped forward, "Can we help you, dude?"

_Leave it to Jaden to offer help to a creepy guy that just came outta nowhere!_ Christina thought as she rose to her feet and joined her friends.

"I had a feeling that there was something else to the dragon,"

Everyone turned to see Siho step forward as Jaden had.

The ebony-haired Slifer pointed to the Lord of D., "It was you...you were watching us. The dragon was a diversion...I don't know why, but you caused it to scare us,"

The Lord of D. chuckled, "My, for an enslaver, you are quite perceptive,"

"An enslaver?" Jaden frowned, "Now hold on. What do you mean by 'enslaver'?" he demanded.

The Lord raised an arm and pointed to Evan, "Ask him...he knows quite well of what I mean by it,"

Everyone turned to Evan, who looked nervous.

"What's he talking about?" Alexis raised an eyebrow, "Evan...you're not one of those people who capture the monsters around here, are you?"

"No way in hell!" Evan snapped defensively, "Drogoth is lying!"

"Dro-who?" Chazz blinked in confusion.

"Drogoth...that is my name," the Lord of D. explained, taking out a duel disk from behind his cape, "...and this part of Dracon Forest is my domain. I protect the great beasts that live in this domain and in return, they serve me. Unlike Lord Revastan, I actually give the dragons a choice to serve or not. I do not force them,"

"Neither does Lord Revastan!" Evan snapped at him, "He protects my village when it comes under attack! All you do is hide, Drogoth, right here in the Forest! You claim to be a protector, but all you do is hide when people need strength to protect their homes!"

"Enough!" Drogoth attached the duel disk to his arm, "I am not here to defend myself...I am here to duel,"

"To duel?" Jaden repeated, a slow grin on his face, "How come?"

"As I said, this part of the Forest is my domain...you are trespassers and enslavers. You must be punished,"

"But we're not-,"

"LET US DUEL!"

-----

Outside in the real world, Kairi sat down in her chair and tore open a bag of chips she had gotten from the vending machine, "What I miss?"

"Jaden and the others just got into another duel,"

"Oh, I got good timing,"

-----

"How come he gets to go again?" Chazz whined, "C'mon, lemme kick that dork's butt!"

Alexis shoved Chazz away from her and Jordan, "Look, Jaden volunteered to duel and we all know there's no talking him out of it," she sighed and shook her head, "I just hope he doesn't hog all the fun while we're here,"

Jaden shuffled his deck and placed it in his disk, "Ready, Drogoth?"

"I was always ready, enslaver!"

"Okay, first off, I ain't a slaver," Jaden frowned, "Second...dude, I have a name. It's Jaden Yuki!"

"I don't care!" Drogoth snapped at him as their disks whirred to life, "Let us commence!"

"Took the words right outta my mouth,"

"LET'S DUEL!"

**D: 4000  
J: 4000**

"I'll go first," Drogoth drew his hand, then his sixth card, "I play the Spell card Cost Down! I now discard my Exploder Dragon (1000/0) to the Graveyard and now, every other monster in my hand has their level decreased by two levels," he plucked a card and held it up, "Which is good for me, because I can now summon Des Volstgalph (2200/1700) in attack mode!"

As soon as the card hit the disk platform, a loud roar ripped through the air and a large dragon with black and red scales appeared from the sky, flapping it's large wings.

Jordan whistled, "Damn, dude...awesome dragon,"

"I end my turn,"

"Cool dragon, but I think my monsters are better," Jaden drew his card and looked over his hand," I play the Spell card Polymerization, and I fuse from my hand, my Elemental Hero The Heat (1600/1200) and Elemental Hero Lady Heat (1300/1000) to summon the Elemental Hero Inferno (2300/1600)!!"

Jaden's new flaming giant appeared on the field, steam rising from his shoulders as it stared the large dragon down. Jaden was about to order it to attack, but he noticed something was different about the dragon.

Des Volstgalph (2400/1700)

"Hey, what's going on?"

Drogoth chuckled, "That's an ability of my dragon...everytime either of us plays a Spell card, he gains 200 extra attack points,"

_That means he's stronger than Inferno now..._ Jaden grimaced and looked at his hand, _But not for much longer!_

"I play the Spell card H - Heated Heart!" Jaden slipped a card into his disk, "This Spell gives one of my monsters a 500 point boost. Even if your dragon gets his boost, Inferno's still stronger!"

Des Volstgalph (2600/1700)

E-Hero Inferno (2800/1600)

"Inferno, attack Des Volstgalph with Blazing Justice Fist!"

The large, fiery Hero slugged the dragon hard in the chest and the beast blew into thousands of pixels.

**D: 3800  
J: 4000**

"Next, I play De-Fusion to split apart my monsters," Jaden declared as he slipped a card into his disk and both Heat and Lady Heat returned to the field, "Now that they're back, I can attack with them both! Also, for each Hero I have on the field, The Heat gets 200 extra attack points!"

E-Hero The Heat (2000/1200)

"Guys, hit him fast and hit him hard!"

Both the male and female Heats landed flaming fists on the Lord of D., who doubled over in pain.

"That's not all...for each Hero monster I have, Lady Heat deals you 200 points of direct damage," Jaden explained as flames covered the Lord's shoulders, "I end my turn,"

**D: 100  
J: 4000**

"YES!" Siho whooped, "GO JADEN!"

"Lucky shot, enslaver," Drogoth rose to his feet and patted the fire out, "All luck...it won't happen again,"

"Bring it on!"

"If you wish," the Lord of D. drew his next card, "I play Pot of Greed!" he drew two new cards, "I summon myself, the Lord of D (1200/1100) in attack mode," he paused for a few moments as he appeared on the field, "Next, I play the Spell card known as Flute of Summoning Dragon. I can summon up to two Dragon monsters with this, but I only need one," he placed a card onto his disk, "I summon, in attack mode, Tyrant Dragon (2900/2500)!"

A huge black dragon with yellow-tinted scales on it's wings descended from the sky and let out a mighty bellow, one that shook the trees themselves.

Jaden stared at it, "Oh boy...,"

"My mighty Tryant Dragon is a rare breed," Drogoth chuckled, "He listens to me and only me...not even the Dragon Prince can control him!"

"Dragon Prince?" Alexis tilted her head, "Who's that?"

"Lord Revastan," Evan answered, his voice quiet, "He has the ability to command dragons and use them in battle," he sighed, "Shame really...all that power and he worries about his kin,"

"What are you talking about?" Chazz looked at him.

"It's nothing, just what we at my village have been hearing lately," Evan scratched his head, "How the hell is Jaden gonna take down that thing?"

"He won't!" Drogoth smirked, "Not only is he powerful, but he has a great ability! Tyrant Dragon!" he looked up at his beast and pointed to the female Hero, "Attack Lady Heat! Tyrannical Fire Bomb!"

The huge dark dragon reared it's head back and fired a huge fireball that was far larger than Lady Heat. The poor Heroine couldn't do a thing against it and her screams echoed around the forest as she exploded into tiny pieces.

**D: 100  
J: 2400**

With Lady Heat destroyed, The Heat's attack strength decreased by 200 points.

E-Hero The Heat (1800/1200)

"That's not all! Remember my Tyrant Dragon's ability?" Drogoth grinned wider, "If there's another monster on the field after he attacks, he can attack again in the same turn! Tyrant Dragon, destroy The Heat with Tyrannical Fire Bomb!"

The male counterpart of Lady Heat suffered the same fate and Jaden's points went down even further.

**D: 100  
J: 1300**

"Next, I'll attack you directly myself!" Drogoth rushed Jaden and slugged him hard in the stomach, sending the young duelist to his knees, holding his side, "I end my turn,"

**D: 100  
J: 100 **

-----

Kairi winced, "Ouch...that's gotta hurt. Glad I'm not goin' up against that thing,"

"Tyrant Dragon is a card that should be respected. Almost as strong in points as the legendary Blue Eyes White Dragon and with a powerful effect...,"

Kairi looked up to see Kristerr standing over her. She whapped his arm softly, "Don't sneak up on me,"

"Sorry,"

"No, you're not,"

-----

_A dragon with great power and a spelllcaster that can protect it from Spells and Traps_ Jaden looked at the only card in his hand, _I can't do a dang thing to kill the dragon. Unless..._ he drew his card and as soon as he saw what he drew, he grinned, _SWEET! With this card, I don't have to worry about that overgrown lizard!_

Drogoth saw the grin and frowned, "What's so funny, boy? Are you mocking me?!"

Christina turned to Khamille, "Why is it everytime Jaden duels and grins at something, people think he's doing something wrong?"

Khamille shrugged, "Don't ask me, I just try to live without working my brain over with things that are better left unexplained,"

"This duel's over!" Jaden slapped a card on his disk, "I summon the Elemental Hero Voltic (1000/1500)!"

Sparks crackled around Jaden as a new monster phased into view, it's shiny body armor coursing with electricity as it stood proudly between Jaden and the large dragon.

Drogoth scoffed loudly, "Fool...that won't make it against my Tyrant Dragon, it's too weak!"

"He may be weak now, but check this!" Jaden slipped a card into his disk and a large lance-like weapon appeared in Voltic's waiting hands, "I play the Equip Spell known as Voltic Spear! With this card, any Warrior-Type monster gains a 300 point boost-,"

"Still too weak!"

"Hey, lemme finish!" Jaden pointed to Voltic as he swung the spear from side to side, "But, when Voltic Spear is equipped to Elemental Hero Voltic, he gains 1000 extra attack points!"

E-Hero Voltic Spear (2000/1500)

Drogoth shook his head, "Still too weak to slay the dragon...,"

Jaden wagged a finger, "Naw...he's just strong enough,"

"What's he talking about?" Jordan looked at his cousin, "He can't take on Tyrant Dragon, he's out of cards and if he does attack, he'll lose the duel!"

"The target's not Tyrant Dragon...,"

Alexis glanced at Christina, "You saw that too, eh?"

"Okay, I'm lost!" Jordan scratched his head, "What the hell's he gonna do?"

Jaden stared Drogoth down, "You call yourself a Lord of Dragons, but you don't live up to the meaning of the word 'Lord'...and that's just sad,"

Drogoth glared at him, "How dare you, enslaver! I protect this forest and the dragons-,"

"Yeah, yeah, I get that," Jaden interrupted him, "You may protect the dragons and that's admirable, saving them from people who want them for bad reasons. But, what kind of Lord leaves himself open in battle?"

"What do you mean?" Drogoth pointed to the Tyrant Dragon, "I'm not open! You have to get through him to beat me!"

Jaden sighed and shook his head, "I guess the bad feelings you have slavers cloud your mind," he pointed to the ground.

Drogoth looked down and he gasped when he realized that he had forgotten a very important detail in this duel. He had summoned himself and was in attack mode! He was wide open for an attack, just as Jaden said.

"Voltic...," Jaden looked at his newest Hero, "Fry him!"

-----

Small screams of pain rang out of the speakers while Kairi, Kristerr and a number of the technicians watched Jaden beat Drogoth in the duel, the Voltic Spear going right through him.

Kairi winced again, "That's gotta hurt...,"

"No kidding," Kristerr nodded, "Glad to see Jaden's still got his wit about him,"

-----

D: 0  
J: 100

Drogoth fell to his knees, smoking from the electrical charge he had suffered. With it melted and fried, Drogoth discarded his duel disk, head hung low.

Jaden walked up to him and bent down, "Hey, don't be so down, man. That was a great duel! You have some awesome dragons on your side. I actually thought I was gonna lose there!"

Drogoth gripped the blades of grass under him, "You have beaten me, enslaver...do what you will...this forest is yours,"

"Hey, I said I wasn't a slaver of dragons!" Jaden poked him in the shoulder hard, "We're just on our way to Revastan Manor so we can duel the Game Marshal there!"

The Lord of D looked up at him, "You honestly think you can beat Lord Revastan?" he shook his head, "Impossible...everyone who's tried has been beaten without mercy. You think you could've lost against me? Lord Revastan has extremely rare and powerful dragons on his side! You will fail...there's no hope,"

"Never say never," Jaden rose, dusting himself off, "We're going and that's that. Now, get up and stop feeling sorry 'cause I beat you. You're a strong guy and if you're protecting the dragons of this forest, then they're lucky to have you as a guardian!"

Drogoth looked at him curiously, "You...aren't like most people I've seen come through here," he looked Jaden over slowly, "You're very different,"

"That's great," Jaden rubbed the back of his head, grinning, "If I wasn't different, I wouldn't be me!"

The Lord of D. rose to his feet and bowed, "Jaden Yuki, as you have defeated me in our duel, I grant you safe passage through this region of the forest. None of the dragons here will attack you, but only in this region. Further in, there are regions where I don't have any power,"

So much for Lord of D. perks Jaden thought as he watched the spellcaster monster walk into the treeline, his cape flowing behind him.

"Dude, score!"

Before Jaden could turn, Siho brushed past him and nearly sent him to the ground. Jaden rubbed his shoulder and looked down to see Siho snatch another leather bag and card from the ground.

"Sweet!" Siho opened the bag and counted, "1200 coins and a...," he looked at the card, "A Lord of D.?" he looked up at the sky, "Alrighty, I think I'm finally understanding this game's prize system,"

"Watcha mean?" Jaden asked him.

-----

"Glad someone's finally figured it out," Kristerr rubbed his nose, "Was wondering when that'd happen,"

Kairi looked at him, confused, "Huh?"

-----

After getting another start on their journey, the group found themselves in yet another clearing of the forest. But, they weren't alone. In the clearing were a large group of Kuriboh and they were jumping and climbing all over a man with green hair, dressed in white.

"Uh...what are we lookin' at here?"

"I have no friggin' clue,"

"You never do, Berg,"

"BITE ME, PRINCETON!"

They watched as the man in white fought the Kuriboh off for a bit until Jaden, Jordan and Siho rushed to help him. After a short time of biting and clawing, they drove the Kuriboh back into the trees.

The man in white cursed and wrapped a torn piece of cloth over his bleeding arm, "You'd never expect a Kuriboh to go beserk like that," he looked around the trees, "Something's driving them to madness,"

"Madness? THIS IS-,"

Alexis clamped a hand over Christina's mouth, "Don't you dare...,"

"Are you okay, man?" Jaden asked the stranger, looking at the bites and claw marks, "They sure did a number on you,"

"No, I'm alright, thank you. I'll live," the stranger smiled, "Thank you for your concern. Who are you guys and what are you doing here?"

"I'm Jaden Yuki," Jaden held out his hand and after introducing the others, he looked back at the man with turquoise hair, "What's your name?"

The stranger took Jaden's hand and shook it with a friendly smile.

"My name is Noah,"

**------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Kilnorc: BUM BUM BUM...it seems things are getting VERY interesting with Jaden and the others now, eh? I've read your reviews and I found it very amusing when you all reacted the first time you saw the new guy. How is he alive? What is he doing here?What did Kristerr say over the phone? Will Christina ever be able to finish her _300_ reference? All these questions will be revealed in time, my friends! Later, ya'll!**

**Oh, but before I go, I should share a very interesting tidbit with you. The Lord of D., Drogoth, his name is a reference to a Dragon in _Lotr: Battle for Middle Earth II_. In that game, there is a dragon called Drogoth, who is called the Dragon Lord. I love adding little refs to stuff I love in my work**

**Yami K: You're a nerd, you know that?**

**Kilorc: Pfft, like I care. I admit and accept who I am. Besides, if I wasn't, I wouldn't be bringing all this goodness!**

**Yami K: Riiiiiight. **


	7. Looming Thunder

**Looming Thunder  
**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX.**

**------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

"King Azuryu! King Shiryu! Queen Aoiryu!"

"Umph...what's all the noise?"

"It's just Shinkiryu...what's that runt want now?"

"I dunno, but she doesn't need the noise...I'll be right back,"

Outside of the large cave that was carved into the top of a very tall mountain, a large dragon phased into view from his camouflage. The Mirage Dragons were always talented at concealing themselves for defense or to infiltrate enemy territory for either information or food.

Shinkiryu had information today for his leaders. As he waited outside the cave, a loud lumbering and growling noise emanated from within and a few moments later, a larger dragon appeared in front of him. At the sight of the large dragon with piercing blue eyes and blinding white scales, the Mirage Dragon bowed his head.

"What brings you here, Shinkiryu? You have disturbed our sister's rest,"

The Mirage Dragon lifted his head and looked right at the Blue Eyes White Dragon in front of him, eyes lingering on the diamonds around the beast's head, "Forgive me, King Azuryu, I didn't mean to, but I have some interesting news for you!"

"Well, what is it?"

"Humans, my King, humans in the forest!"

Azuryu leaned forward, irritated, "We've had humans in the forest before, Shinkiru...you disturbed us for common news?"

"But my King! They are strong humans! They defeated both the Horus Sect and Drogoth!"

The ivory dragon became quiet and stared at the Mirage Dragon for the longest time.

"Is that so...?"

Shinkiryu nodded rapidly, "Yes, my King! Both of them defeated by a boy, a mere child!"

That made the dragon more interested in what the Mirage Dragon had to say.

"Go on...,"

-----

Earlier that day, it had been a nice and warm trip through Dracon Forest, but now, shortly after finding and saving the man named Noah from the herd of rabid Kuriboh, the group of duelists were running a thunderstorm. Lightning streaked across the sky as bullets of rain poured on the group with no end in sight.

"Jaden!" Bastion yelled over the thunder booms, "We have to find shelter!"

"Yeah!" Christina yelled in his ear, "May be VR, but I'd rather not get shocked!"

Jaden came to a stop and looked around as best he could with the rain obscuring his vision. Peering through the veil of pouring droplets, he caught sight of a cave a short distance away.

"There!" he pointed ahead and looked back at the others. They all looked ahead and when they saw what he was pointing at, they broke into a run for the shelter, leaving him behind.

"Hey, wait for me!"

As soon as they entered the cave, the duelists shook the water out of their hair and began to wring out their clothes. Alexis sighed as she wrung out her hair, "May be virtual reality, but it's still wet and cold," she murmured.

"Yeah...just like your rack, right now it's VR, but it's still kinda big for a girl your age,"

_WHACK!_

Alexis lowered her fist as Siho met with the rock wall of the cave, then continued to wring out her hair, "Pervert,"

"Man, seems like both good and bad luck are with me today," Noah commented with a smile, "I get mobbed by Kuriboh, you guys come to my aid and then it starts raining cats and dogs,"

Bastion sat down on the floor, crossing his legs, "I don't believe in luck, Noah, but everything has to balance out. It's a scientific fact,"

Noah chuckled, "I guess you're right...but luck or no, I'm glad we found this place," he looked around the large, dark cave, "We can stay here until the rain dies down, but we oughta make a fire, otherwise we'll all get sick,"

Jordan leaned towards his cousin, "We can't get sick, it's a game!"

"Just go along with it," she whispered back.

-Out in the real world...-

"Well, they may be stuck in a cave, but at least they're outta the forest," Kairi reasoned before taking a sip of her third soda, "Just a little bit longer until they duel Lord Revastan,"

Kristerr nodded, "I was wondering if they'd ever get out of there. I just hope they don't take this long for the others,"

"Yeah, because I'd never get my chance after them,"

-Back in the VR world...-

"Geez, is this rain ever gonna let up?!" Chazz muttered under his breath, bored out of his mind, "I'd like to get the hell outta here and finally get to the Manor to kick that guy's butt!"

Khamille and Alexis exchanged annoyed glances as Chazz rose to his feet and walked to the back of the cave.

"Chazz, don't wander off too far," Bastion warned.

Chazz scoffed, "Please, we're in a cave, what could possibly happen?"

"Well, a powerful stream of incredibly hot flames could shoot outward and incinerate us all,"

Everyone turned and looked at Chrissy.

"What?" she asked, looking at them all, "It happened in _The Incredibles_!"

Everyone else facefaulted.

"Well, if Moron Movie Time is over...," Chazz turned back around and started back towards the cave again, mumbling to himself.

As he left the group, Chazz went as far as he could with the poor light source they had in the cave as his guide. He looked around for about half a minute before giving up and leaning against the back end of the cave wall, irritated at the situation.

"Have to wait in a stupid cave with Jaden and the others," he muttered, drumming his fingers along the wall for a few moments before slamming his hand into it, "When the hell are we gonna get outta here?!"

Chazz cursed to himself and started to walk back to the group when a low rumbling sound from behind made him slow to a stop. Chazz slowly turned his head and when he saw what was making the noise, he felt the color drain from his face, his jaw dropping.

In front of him was a beast covered in green scales, a pair of large, leathery wings folded along it's back while a pair of long horns protruded out of it's head.

"Oh crap...," Chazz turned on his heel and ran back to the front of the cave, screaming at the top of his lungs.

Hearing Chazz's screams, everyone shot to their feet as sped towards them. They were going to ask what was wrong when they caught sight of the Thunder Dragon coming up behind him, sparks of electricity rippling over it's body.

"Chazz, what the hell did you do?!" Christina shouted, "Tell me you didn't piss that thing off!"

"I-I-I-I-I...,"

Noah shook his head, "Great, a Dragon's den...more bad luck,"

"We gotta get the hell outta here!" Christina turned to run out of the cave, but Bastion grabbed her by the arms and pulled her back, "Bastion, what-!?"

"Think!" he hissed loud enough for everyone to hear, "It's pouring rain out there, we're still wet, and that's a Thunder Dragon! It can use it's electric power to fry us all!"

"But it's a game!"

"Want to risk that?!"

The Thunder Dragon came to a halt and lay down on it's belly, slowly turning it's head from one duelist to another.

"What's it doing, sizing us up for a snack or something?" Jaden asked in a whisper.

Christina began pushing Chazz forward, ignoring the boy's struggling protests, "If it is, let's give it an offering...the one that pissed it off!"

"I appreciate the offering, human female, but I'm not hungry,"

Everyone stared as the Thunder Dragon reared it's head back. It had just spoken to them in a language they could understand!

"Dude, either I'm hallucinating or that thing just said something," Jordan mumbled.

"Did you see a pink elephant?" Christina asked him.

"No?"

"Then the dragon talked to us,"

The Thunder Dragon shook it's head, "Humans think they're superior because they choose to speak their language. If nothing can speak Human, then it must be dumber than a rat,"

"Hey, we never said that!" Jaden said defensively, "We don't think we're superior-,"

"_I_ do...,"

_WHAP!_

"SHUT IT CHAZZ!"

Jaden sighed, "Look, we don't want any trouble. We just came in because we needed shelter from the storm," he explained as thunder boomed outside, startling some of the others, "Once the storm is over, we'll get outta here,"

The dragon seemed to laugh, though the kids couldn't be sure, "No, you won't, and do you know why?"

"I got a bad feeling about this," Jordan and Alexis muttered at the same time.

The Thunder Dragon lowered it's head to Jaden's eye level and looked right into his eyes, "Because, this is my cave, and you all have trespassed, regardless of your intentions,"

Siho turned to Bastion, "We're screwed, ain't we?"

"Seems like it," the Ra replied before stepping forward, "Pardon me. We are truly sorry for intruding on your home, but we had no choice. Isn't there some way we can avoid any negative consequences?" he asked politely.

The Thunder Dragon snapped its head to Bastion, making the human jump a little, "Hmm...,you humans dress differently from other humans, but you do wear duel disks like them. How about this? You entertain me with a duel and if you win, I will let you stay until the storm is over,".

"What happens if we lose?" Christina chirped.

Khamille groaned, "Man, she had to ask that question...,"

"Hmm...well let's see," the Thunder Dragon seemed to look up at the cave ceiling high above the children's heads, "I could eat you, or I could make you personal servants...after all, an Emperor needs his servants,"

Noah frowned, "Emperor?"

The dragon chuckled again, "Of course, I haven't introduced myself. Well then, now is a better time than ever, right?"

A bright golden light began to shine from the dragon's chest, making everyone cover their eyes from the brightness. They waited until the light died down and when they lowered their hands, they saw a sight that made their eyes widen a little. Instead of a large Thunder Dragon filling half of the cave, a handsome, blonde human stood in it's place. The man wore golden armor and a helmet that looked like the Thunder Dragon's head, the man's blonde hair flowing behind him. On his arm was a duel disk with the head of a dragon and an outstretched wing as the field tray. Behind him, a long tail and a large pair of wings were visible on his backside.

"I am Raiteiryu, and I am the Thunder Emperor Dragon! So, who will be my opponent?"

"I will!" Jaden held up and activated his disk.

Chazz growled at him, "Hey, Slacker! Why not give anyone else a chance?!"

Jaden grinned and held up the V sign, "Next duel, I promise!"

-----

Kairi shook her head, "Those guys need to be faster in order to beat Jaden to a duel challenge," she sighed, "They should know him better by now!"

Kristerr grinned, "They should and yet...," he shook his head too, "Least he'll give us another interesting duel,"

-----

"Let's duel!"

**R: 4000  
J: 4000**

"My cave, my turn!" Raiteiryu drew his hand, then his card, "I summon Thunder Nyan Nyan (1900/800) in attack mode!"

A cute young woman with red hair, dressed in a leopard bikini with paws, a tail, and drums around her waist appeared on the field.

Siho's jaw dropped, "Hello...,"

Alexis, Khamille, and Christina sweatdropped as Jordan noticed something happening to Thunder Nyan Nyan.

Thunder Nyan Nyan (2200/800)

"Hey, what's going on?!"

Raiteiryu chuckled, "That's right, I forgot," he pointed outside as lightning flashed, "Normally, my monsters have their power, but when thunder and electricity fill the air, they gain a power boost of 300 points!"

"I end my turn,"

Bastion looked on at the attractive Duel Monster on the field, _Thunder Nyan Nyan...I remember Syrus saying that was one of his favorite cards back in our first year at Duel Academy. In fact, it was right before I dueled Tanya, the Amazon Shadow Rider..._ he glanced at Jaden _...wonder what else this dragon person has in his deck?_

Jaden drew his card, "I summon the Elemental Hero Knospe (600/1000) in attack mode!" he declared as a small, plant-like creature appeared on the field.

"Awww!" Christina squealed, "That's so cute!"

"Uh...thanks," Jaden said slowly, _What is it with girls thinking my monsters are cute? They did the same thing with Kuriboh when I dueled Chazz..._ he looked at his hand, "Next, I play the Spell card known as Rose Bud!" he slipped the card into his disk and a large, green bud appeared on the field, "By sacrificing my Knospe," he paused as the little monster disappeared, "I can Special Summon a stronger monster from my hand or deck, and that monster is the Elemental Hero Poison Rose (1900/2000)!"

A tall, beautiful woman with purple skin, dressed in large, green leaves appeared on the field in place of Knospe.

"Next, I play three more Spell cards!"

Three more? Bastion blinked, curious as to Jaden's strategy, That'll leave him with just one card in his hand...what is Jaden up to?

"I play O - Oversoul to bring my Elemental Hero Knospe back to the field," Jaden's small green monster appeared alongside it's counterpart, "Next, I play E - Emergency call to add an Elemental Hero from my deck to my hand and I choose...," he fanned out his deck and scanned it, "...Elemental Hero The Heat (1600/1200)," he placed the card into his hand, "Finally, I play H - Heated Heart and use it's power to increase Poison Rose's attack power by 500 points!"

E-Hero Poison Rose (2400/2000)  
E-Hero Knospe (600/1000)

"Poison Rose, attack Thunder Nyan Nyan with Rose Whip!"

Thunder Nyan Nyan let out a shrill hiss before exploding into digitized bits as Poison Rose's Rose Whip cut into her.

**R: 3800  
J: 4000**

"Knospe, direct attack!"

**R: 3200  
J: 4000**

"And I end my turn with that," Jaden grinned, "Not bad for the first turn, huh?"

Raiteiryu snorted as he drew his card, "No one beats the Thunder Emperor!" he looked at his hand, "I play the Spell card Swords of Revealing Light!" three large, glowing swords appeared and surrounded Jaden's monsters, "For three turns, you won't be able to attack me or my monsters! I summon Batterman AA (0/0) in attack mode, and I end my turn,"

Batteryman AA (300/0)

Jaden drew his card, "I play Pot of Greed, which lets me draw two new cards!" he paused and drew two new cards, "I summon Elemental Hero The Heat in attack mode and place two cards facedown," he slipped two cards into the slots, "Before I end my turn, I should tell you that The Heat has an interesting effect! For each Elemental Hero I have on the field, he gains 200 points!"

E-Hero Poison Rose (1900/2000)  
E-Hero Knospe (600/1000)  
E-Hero The Heat (2200/1200)

"I end my turn," Jaden finished, _I can't attack with these swords_, he thought as he glanced the glowing blades, _Just gotta wait or figure something out here!_

Raiteiryu drew his next card, "I sacrifice my Batteryman AA to summon a more powerful monster, the Super-Electromagnetic Voltech Dragon (2400/1000)!!"

A roar filled the air and the cave shook a little as a very large, metal beast, rippling with electrical arcs and sparks appeared in front of the dragonic duelist.

Jordan's eyes went wide, "Oh my God! He has a copy of _that_ card?!"

Alexis and Christina turned to him, "What's wrong Jordan?"

The Ra shook his head, "That explains why he used Swords on a weak monster like Batteryman! That dragon has an effect that depending if a certain Batteryman monster is sacrificed to summon it in a duel, it gains a certain special effect!"

"Very good," the dragonic duelist nodded, impressed, "That's so true, and as it so happens, I sacrificed a Batteryman to summon it. Batteryman AA to be exact, and if I sacrificed one of those monsters to summon this dragon, he gains 1000 extra attack points, as well as 300 because of the storm!"

S.E.V. Dragon (3700/1000)

"Now, attack Knospe, my kin!"

"Forget it!" Jaden snapped, "As long as Poison Rose in on my field, none of my other monsters can be targeted!"

Raiteiryu hmphed, "Fine...Dragon, attack Elemental Hero Poison Rose!"

"Oh, man, Jaden, you're an idiot!" Christina looked away, "HUGE idiot...,"

Jaden smirked and pressed a button on his disk, "Don't think so! I reveal my facedown Trap card, Swamp of the Fallen! This allows me to cut the attack of one monster on the field by half, and I choose your Dragon!" he pointed at the beast and grinned as the points went down.

S.E.V. Dragon (1850/1000)

"Poison Rose, counter-attack with Rose Storm!"

The huge dragon was soon assaulted by a giant maelstrom of blood-red rose petals that cut into the metal hide. The dragon roared in pain before exploding in a blinding flash of light, sparks flying into the air.

Jaden chuckled, "So much for your big bad dragon...,"

Raiteiryu hmphed again,_Could this be the same boy that the Great Ones told me about? I may be an outsider to the other dragons, but I am still under their rule, so they had to tell me about a pack of humans in the forest. Perhaps...interesting..._

"Yo, dude, still your turn," Jaden waved a hand at him, "But, before you keep going, I should tell ya that everytime Poison Rose does Battle Damage to you, she gains 200 attack points while she loses 200 defense points,"

E-Hero Poison Rose (2100/1800)  
E-Hero Knospe (600/1000)

E-Hero The Heat (2200/1200)

"I am aware, human," Raiteiryu looked at his hand, "I play my own Pot of Greed!" he drew two new cards, _This may leave me at a disadvantage hand-wise, but I see no other way to beat this simpleton before the Swords are down..._ he looked up at Jaden, "I place two cards facedown, then I play the Spell card Polymerization to fuse the two Thunder Dragons from my hand to summon the Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon (2800/2100), whose not only powerful by himself, but with the electric air around us...,"

Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon (3100/2100)

"I end my turn, human," Raiteiryu smirked, even as the Swords disappeared finally,_Get through __**that**__, human! Show me if you're the one my Kings are interested in!_

Hmmm... Jaden looked up at the large dragon, "I can beat that!"

"What?" Raiteiryu blinked, "Pardon?"

"I can beat that," Jaden repeated calmly as he drew his card, "First off-,"

"Hold on!" Raiteiryu pressed a disk, "I activate my facedown Trap card, Threatening Roar! This card makes it so you can't declare an attack this turn!"

Jaden slumped his shoulders, "Jeez, can't cut a guy a break, huh? Oh well, I'll just summon Elemental Lady Heat (1300/1000) to the field, then I'll play the Equip Spell card, United We Stand! This card powers upa monster on my field by 800 points for every other monster on my field!" Jaden grinned, "I'll equip this to the Heat and end my turn. Don't forget, with each Hero on the field, The Heat gains 200 points! Not only that, but at the end of my turn, Lady Heat deals you 200 points of damage for each Elemental Hero I have on the field, and there's four!"

**R: 2400  
J: 4000**

E-Hero Poison Rose (2100/1800)  
E-Hero Knospe (600/1000)  
E-Hero The Heat (5600/4400)  
E-Hero Lady Heat (1300/1000)

"What the...," Noah stared at Jaden's tactics, "That's amazing!" he looked at the others, "Does he always duel like this?"

"Believe it or not, sometimes, he's better than this," Alexis murmured to him.

Raiteiryu drew his card, "It end's here! First, I play my facedown Trap card, Call of the Haunted to summon back my Thunder Nyan Nyan to the field, and I'll boost her power with the Spell card known as Electro-Whip! This powers up her up in both attack and defense by 300, which is added to the 300 points due to the storm!"

Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon (3100/2100)  
Thunder Nyan Nyan (2500/1100)

"Thunder Nyan Nyan, attack Poison Rose with Thunder Drum Beat!"

The leopard cat-girl giggled and began to pound her drums, each beat creating a bolt of lightning that struck Poison Rose hard. It only lasted a few seconds, but Thunder Nyan Nyan stopped and Poison Rose, smoking and charred, blew to pieces.

**R: 2400  
J: 3600**

"Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon, attack and obliterate Knospe!"

The two headed dragon roared and sent a powerful electric orb blast that collided with the small monster. Jaden held up his arm to protect his eyes as a blinding light filled the cave, "Aw man!"

**R: 2400  
J: 1100**

"An amazing strategy!"

Jordan turned to Bastion, "What is?"

Bastion pointed to Jaden's field, "Not only did he take out two of Jaden's monsters, and weakened his Life Points, but he succeeded in lowering the power in Jaden's Heat monster!"

Frowning, Jordan turned to the duel, "What?"

"It's quite simple," Bastion cleared his throat, "Both the card, United We Stand, and The Heat's ability draws on the number of monsters on the field. Not only did the so called Emperor destroy Poison Rose and took down Jaden's defense, but he took out his weakest monster, dealing a large amount of damage and weaking Jaden's strongest monster!" he shook his head, "As I said, amazing!"

E-Hero The Heat (3600/2800)  
E-Hero Lady Heat (1300/1000)

"Still strong...," Jordan muttered, "He can still win,"

"Normally, yes," Bastion agreed, nodding slowly, "But Raiteiryu is a smart opponent...if Jaden doesn't end this soon, he may lose the duel!"

"Aw crap...!"

Jaden drew his card and looked at the monsters in front of him, Just hope this works...!

"Do it, human!" the dragonic duelist snapped, "My patience is wearing thin!"

"You asked for it!" Jaden pointed to the Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon, "Heat, take out that dragon with Hero Heatwave!"

The Heat aimed and threw a devastating, fiery punch that caused the dragon to roar in agony before exploding into nothingness.

Raiteiryu chuckled, "Waste of a turn!"

**R: 1900  
J: 1100**

"That's what you think!" Jaden pressed a button on his disk and his last facedown was uprooted, "Activate Trap card, Backdraft!"

"Eh?" Raiteiryu raised a brow, "Backdraft?"

Jaden nodded, "Yep, Backdraft! This Trap card is activated after a Fire-Attribute monster deals Battle Damage to my opponent! Since The Heat beat your dragon, it's activated!"

"So, what's it do?"

"Funny you should ask...," Jaden grinned slyly, "This Trap deals you damage equal to the attack points of the Fire monster that did you damage this turn!"

Raiteiryu's eyes widened, "But...that means...!"

"That's right!" Jaden nodded slowly, "The Heat deals you 3600 points of damage!"

**R: 0  
J: 1100**

"And that's game!"

Raiteiryu yelled as his duel disk blew apart. He fell to his knees and shapshifted back into his dragon form while Jaden and his friends celebrated the Slifer's latest victory. Noah, for one, was very impressed.

"He beat me...the Thunder Emperor was actually beaten...by a human!"

As he stared at the floor, a pair of sneakers entered his line of sight.

"Humans are alot tougher than creatures give them credit for,"

The dragon looked up to see Christina standing in front of him, hands behind her head.

"I see that, now," Raiteiryu picked himself up and looked down at her, "I know what I must do now,"

Back at the entrance, Bastion was patting Jaden on the back, glad to see his friend have another victory under his belt.

"Good show, Jaden! Looks like you're getting better at using those new Elemental Heroes," the Ra commented, "Impressive,"

"I'll say," Noah stepped forward, "I've been around and I haven't seen dueling like that in a long, long time," he held out his hand, "Congratulations. I see that you have a promising future as a duelist ahead of you,"

Jaden smiled sheepishly and shook Noah's hand as he rubbed the back of his head, "Aw...well, I am going to be the next King of Games, ya know!"

Noah looked at him for a few moments before nodding, "Indeed,"

As Noah pulled his hand back, a terrified scream ripped through the air, startling them. The group turned to the source, but as they did, a large, green form flew past them and out of the cave. Jaden and Noah quickly picked themselves up and looked at the sky to see Raiteiryu hovering in the air, Christina clutched firmly in his claws. Not only that, but both Bastion and Jordan were hanging onto her legs.

"Chrissy! Bastion! Jordan!" Siho ran outside and glared up at the dragon, "Hey, lizard face, let them go!"

Raiteiryu flapped his wings, "I cannot do that, human! My loss at the hands of your friend has given me insight, and I must do what I have to do in order to survive!"

"To survive?" Khamille frowned, "What do you mean?"

"NEVERMIND WHAT GODZILLA MEANS, JUST GET US DOWN FROM HERE!" Christina screamed, "FOR THE LOVE OF RA, GET US DOWN!"

Raiteiryu looked down at her and the boys, "I don't need extra baggage...," he growled before swiping the boys off with his tail. As the two boys hit the ground, the others watched the Thunder Dragon fly off to the large mountain nearby.

"Well, at least we know where Mount Dracon is," Bastion mused, rubbing his head, "We have to go after Chrissy,"

"Damn straight!" Jordan said, fuming, ignoring the lump on his head, "That over-sized lizard is gonna pay!"

Chazz growled, "Let's just leave her, and get to the Manor already! She'll be fine,"

"HELL NO!"

-----

The ride up the mountain had Christina terrified. VR or not, she didn't like the idea of being way off the ground like she was, clutched in the claws of a Thunder Dragon. After a traumatizing ride up, they reached a large cave in the mountainside. Raiteiryu landed and walked in, Christina held close to his body.

"My Kings! I bring news and a gift!" he called out.

Kings? Christina thought and watched as a large, beautiful ivory dragon stepped out from the blackness of the cave and into the light coming from the entrance, A Blue Eyes White Dragon?! Oh crap!

Raiteiryu released Christina and nudged her forward so hard, she fell to her knees.

"Report," the ivory dragon ordered.

"I just lost a duel to the boy that you told us about, my King," Raiteiryu said casually, "The spy's report was correct...he does have power in him. I do believe he will be what we want him to be," he nodded to the human girl, "They will be coming for her. With her as the incentive, they will surely come,"

The dragon looked at Christina, "My name is Azuryu, King of the Northern Light Dragons. Human girl, what is your name?"

"Uhm...," the Slifer kept her eyes on the ground, careful not to make eye contact, "Christina. Listen, um, your highness...if you wanted to do something with Jaden, you don't need me...,"

"That's where you're wrong,"

A bright light began to glow from the White Dragon, a light that reminded Christina of Raiteiryu's transformation. When it died down, she looked up and saw a handsome humanoid male standing before her, wearing magnificent white armor as a scaly tail and leathery wings were shown behind him. However, Christina stared at the man's face. She had seen that face so many times before in the real world. His eyes were the same cobalt blue color, and he had the same hairstyle as him, but the brown hair was streaked with white.

_He looks just like Seto Kaiba! The hell?!_

**----------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Kilnorc: Oh for the love of all anime gods, my fingers hurt -holds up crooked fingers- I've been working on this for a while now. I'm very sorry, to the fans of this fic, for waiting for long, but I've been very into my OP series. However, I am getting back into this and I promise more updates...just as soon as my fingers get better, LOL.**


	8. The Warring Dragon Clans

**The Warring Dragon Clans**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX.**

**------------------------------------------------------------------**

"So...uhm...why exactly do you need me?"

Christina looked up at the supposed King of the Northern Dragon Clan, feeling very nervous about her current situation. It wasn't everyday one gets kidnapped by a dragon. Then again, it's not every one gets to try out a brand new virtual reality video game before the public does, either.

Azuryu held out his hand, "Come with me, Christina, I will show you,"

Not wanting to insult or anger the dragon or human or whatever the hell he was, Christina took his hand and rose to her feet. Azuryu looked back at Reiteiryu, "Thank you, my friend. If you please?"

The Thunder Dragon nodded, "Of course, my King," he murmured before taking off out of the cave entrance and taking flight, heading back to his cave at the base of the mountain. Christina didn't like the idea of being alone with this creature, but she didn't have any choice.

"So...," she clicked her tongue, "...nice cave, I guess,"

Azuryu chuckled, "Thank you, we are proud of our home,"

"We? Our?"

"My family," Azuryu explained as they walked down a long, rocky tunnel, "You will meet them soon enough, but first, I must ask you something,"

"Me first," Christina stopped in her tracks, "I gotta couple of questions like 'Why was I abducted' and 'Why do you guys change form?',".

Azuryu came to a halt, "You have some guts for a human, Christina. Not many people talk to any of us like that,"

"Well, my friends and I aren't from around here," Christina folded her arms, "So, c'mon, what's the deal?"

The dragon/human turned and looked right at her, "The 'deal' is that my clan of Light Dragons fight for their very lives every single day against the Dark Dragons of the South,"

Christina immediately remembered the story Evan told her before his village was raided, "Go on...,"

"It started as any war would, with the spilling of a loved ones blood. Our brother, Azushiryu, was murdered by the leader of the Dark Dragon Clan, Kuroryu," the dragon explained, "That bastard killed the eldest of our family, the last King of Northern Dragons. As the second oldest of my brothers, I stepped up and took the Diamond Crown and the throne, as you humans would say," he reached up and tapped a beautiful golden circlet with diamonds encrusted on it.

_Why the hell didn't I see that before?_ she wondered as her eyes drifted back to his,_Of course, the fact that he looks like Kaiba...that's why._

"Since his death, my brother and I have led our clan into battle against the Dark Dragons. Of course, humans and their villages have been casualties in our war, and I'm sure that the humans who have suffered hate our kind,"

"Well, I wouldn't say hate," Christina interjected, rubbing the back of her head, "Though, I'm sure some of them are pretty pissed off. But, some people are just trying to defend their homes in the war. In fact, my friends and I met a kid in Harpie Forest, who was trying to find help for his village! Then after, we saw Lord Revastan take out the Dark Dragons fighting over that very village,"

Azuryu nodded slowly, "Lord Revastan...the savior of the humans in this war. I don't understand why he doesn't fight on our side while he defends the humans. He could do the same thing from our side, yet he refuses!"

"Why does he refuse to fight on either side?"

"He said it was between both clans," Azuryu shook his head, "I'll never understand humans, and yet here I am, waiting for this Jaden to come to us,"

"About that...why do you want him?"

Azuryu looked at her, "One of my subjects told us that he defeated the Horus Sect and Drogoth. Those are some of my more powerful subjects. If he could beat them, then he must be powerful. I wish to see his power with my own eyes, to see if he has the ability to lend the aid that Lord Revastan would not give to us,"

Christina looked at him, "I'm here as bait...just so you can have Jaden duel, so he could maybe fight for your clan?" she asked slowly.

The dragon nodded, "Yes,"

"That's just stupid,"

Azuryu's face was soon covered with a look of confusion, which was soon replaced with one of slight anger, "What?"

"I said...that's stupid!" Christina repeated, "Lookit you! You say that you're the King of the Northern clan, and you're one of the most powerful dragons in existence, and you bitch and moan about how one human won't help your war? Then, you keep a girl hostage to bring another human here to ask him to fight! If you ask me, that's the dumbest strategy for battle I've ever heard,"

"I don't expect a human to understand!" Azuryu shouted, "My brother is dead and my youngest brother and I have to protect our dearest treasure from the filthy claws of those Dark bastards! If I want to bring in help from some...humans...then I will! I am the leader now and I will have my revenge-,"

"Brother!" a new voice interrupted them.

Both Azuryu and Christina turned to see a large shadow on the wall of the cave.

"What is it, Shiryu?" Azuryu called out, a tone of worry in his voice, "Is something wrong?!"

"You're upsetting Aoiryu!"

Azuryu cursed and ran down the hall as Christina chased after him. She may have wanted to leave, but if someone was in trouble...

She followed the King into a large room and skidded to a stop when she saw what was in the middle of it. Another Blue Eyes White Dragon was sitting next to a beautiful, blue-scaled dragon, who was laying on the floor, breathing heavily.

"Sister, are you okay?" Azuryu asked as he rushed to the blue dragon's side.

Aoiryu lifted her head to look at him, then she noticed Christina at the mouth of the tunnel.

"Do not worry, sister, she is not a threat to any of us," Azuryu assured her in a soothing voice as he patted the dragon's snout, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. I was telling the human our plight and I got out of hand,"

Christina looked at the other Blue Eyes White Dragon, then at the dragon on the floor.

"What's wrong with her?" she asked in a hushed voice.

The third dragon turned it's head to her, "She is going through a rough time, human. Soon, she will give birth to the children of our oldest brother,"

"Birth?" Christina's jaw dropped, "You mean, she's going to have eggs?"

The dragon nodded, "Yes, but she is not well. After our brother was murdered by the leader of the Dark Dragons, her heart was broken and she has had failing health ever since. Fortunately, for us, she has been holding on. We just hope that she will give birth and live to see her hatchlings,"

"Isn't there anything you can do to help her?"

"We've tried," Azuryu said, making both his brother and the human girl turn to him, "We've searched the whole region, but the only healer that could possibly have a chance of saving Aoiryu is in the service of Lord Revastan,"

"That's good, right?" Christina asked, tilting her head, "You can just go ask him-,"

"I will not ask a human permission! Least of all a human who refuses to come to our aid while he helps everyone else in his 'kingdom'!" Azuryu snapped.

Christina frowned, "You won't ask the one person who could help you out, because he won't help you fight?" she shook her head, "You're a stupid King, alright,"

Azuryu snapped his head and glared at her, growling deeply. He rose to his feet, but before he moved an inch forward, Aoiryu moved her claws in front of him, stopping him in his tracks. The King looked back to see the blue dragon shake her head weakly.

The dragon King growled again before stepping back, "Consider yourself lucky, human. If my sister wasn't here to stop me, and you weren't needed, I'd make sure you'd regret those words!" he turned back to the blue dragon, "Shiryu, show the human female where she will be staying until her friends arrive,"

"Yes brother," the last Blue Eyes nodded and turned to the mouth of the cave, looking down at Christina, "Come with me,"

As she was led out of the large room, Christina stopped and turned back to look at the two dragons behind her.

_So much pain... _she thought_ ...why won't Lord Revastan help them? They're suffering, too!_

Meanwhile, outside...

"How...much...longer...do...we have...to climb?"

Jaden sat on a large rock and leaned back, as the rest of his group rested on a flat surface on the side of the mountain.

"I dunno. Evan...?" he turned to the villager, who was rubbing his leg, "How long does it take for someone to climb Mount Dracon?"

"No clue," Evan said, wincing a bit, "I've never done it before. I've always stayed away from this side of the mountain,"

Jaden looked at him, "You okay?"

Evan shook his head, "No, not really. I think I did something wrong. My leg...it hurts," he looked up at the group, wincing again, "I don't think I can make the rest of the trip,"

"Just as well, you've never been much help,"

Alexis and Khamille glared at Chazz.

"What, it's true!" he pointed at Evan, "Sure, he tells us about some places, but does he actually pull his weight for the group?!"

"More than you," Alexis snapped at him.

Chazz's jaw dropped, "W-What?!"

"Guys, don't fight," Noah rubbed his eyes, "The more we fight, the longer it's gonna take for us to get up to top and get Christina back,"

Jordan nodded, "That's right! Chrissy needs our help and the last thing we should be doing is fighting. Especially with a pain in the ass like Chazz,"

Chazz shot a glare at him, "Why you...if you weren't related to Lexi, I'd-,"

Noah shook his head as another argument sparked, then turned to Jaden, "How do you put up with these people?"

"I dunno...," Jaden sighed, head hanging low, "I do not know,"

-----

The hacker watched as the group of duelists continued to climb the mountain. Lighting a cigarette, the figure leaned back in it's chair, keyboard on its lap.

"Hmm...when to do it, when to do it?" it wondered as it inhaled the smoke, "Think I'll wait and see if anything good pops up suddenly...if not, I'll wait until one of them finally loses,"

-----

"It's...about...damn...time!"

"Jordy, enough cussing," Alexis scolded as she grabbed her cousin's wrist and pulled him up to the ledge.

After an eternity of climbing and close calls, Jaden and the others finally reached the cave near the top of the mountain. First, they were reluctant to leave Evan behind, but he insisted that he'd just slow them down. So, they continued climbing until they reached their goal.

"You guys sure this is where he was heading?" Noah asked, pulling Khamille and Bastion to the ledge.

Jordan nodded, "Positive...Thunder Dragon creep...taking a friend of ours," he shook a fist, "He's gonna pay!"

"Hey, someone help me up!" Chazz's voice floated up from below the ledge.

Noah looked around the cave, "We need to be careful,"

"How come?" Jaden asked, walking up beside him, "What's wrong?"

"Because, this isn't just a cave," Noah explained, "I've heard about this place, and if I'm right, we really do need to be careful, because this is where they live,"

"HEY! NEED SOME HELP!"

"Where who lives?"

"You know of the Dragon Clans, right?"

"Yeah,"

"The leaders of the Northern Dragon Clan live here," Noah pointed into the cave, "If we're careful, we won't anger them while we look around for Christina,"

"CAN SOMEONE GRAB MY HAND AT LEAST?!" Chazz screamed, his hand waving frantically.

Jordan cracked his knuckles, "Let's go...,"

Everyone in the group took a deep breath and began to walk into the dark mouth of the cave. As they entered the cave, Chazz finally pulled himself up from his place on the mountainside and glared daggers at them all.

"THANKS FOR HELPING...NOT!!!" Chazz yelled at them as he pulled himself all the way up and rolled to the cave floor, panting for breath, "Jerks...,"

**---------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Kilnorc: Alright, I know it doesn't have a duel in here, and it's somewhat short to some people, but it's good to get the reason of the warring clans outta the way so I can make more room for duels...hehehe. Hope ya'll liked!**

**P.S. I so love to bash The Chazz...he's so easy!**


	9. Two Are Better Than One

**Two Are Better Than One**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX.**

**------------------------------------------------------------------**

"So, Shiryu, was it? Even though your brother told me why you guys are at war with the other clan, he didn't explain how and why you guys can turn into humans," Christina looked up at the dragon walking beside her, "Seriously, what the hell?"

The Blue Eyes looked down at her, "The ability to transform into humans are not very rare, human. In fact, every non-humanoid monster has the ability to do so, but most of them decide to stay in their natural form. Those who turn into humans usually do so to interact better with humans as well as to duel them,"

"You mean, they change so they don't scare the piss out of them?"

"Exactly,"

"Oh...," Christina thought for a few moments, "That makes sense, I guess. But, wait, my friend fought Horus and his followers. How come Horus didn't transform or even talk? His followers came after us and fought us instead,"

Shiryu seemed to shrug, "Some monsters just have really big egos,"

"I'm not surprised by that at-,"

Christina was cut off as a loud noise echoed around the tunnels of the cave. Shiryu lifted his head and looked around, sniffing the air, "Many humans in our home...," he looked down at Christina, "Seems like your friend Jaden has come for you,"

"It's about time," Christina scratched her head, "I mean, no offense, you guys are actually nice, but ya kinda creep me out,"

"Exactly the reason why some of us take human form,"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," she waved him off, "Can we go look for him, or am I confined to a certain area?"

Shiryu tapped a claw on the stone floor, "I suppose it would be alright for you to go find him. After all, I'm sure brother Azuryu would want you after the duel, so you know what fate holds for you,"

Christina sweatdropped,_That sounds kinda wrong..._

"Hey, wait a minute," she looked around, "If they climbed the mountain, that means that it took awhile! Have we been walking around in circles all this time?"

Shiryu looked away, "I felt like having a chat, so slay me,"

Again, she sweatdropped, _Dragons are weird...thank the Egyptian Gods I usually use Amazons!_

-----

"So, _this_ is Jaden Yuki, the one who defeated Horus' Sect, Drogoth, and Raiteiryu?" Azuryu raised an eyebrow as he looked Jaden over, "You're much younger than I thought you would've been," he looked at the others with him, "Nice entourage,"

"Where's Christina?" Jaden demanded, stepping forward, duel disk at the ready, "If you wanna duel me for her, than bring it on!"

Azuryu chuckled, "That is what I intended once you arrived, so-," he stopped and frowned, pointing at Jaden's arm, "Your duel disk...,"

"Huh?" Jaden looked at his disk and his eyes widened when he saw that it was covered in burn marks and some of the outer coverings were cracked, "What happened?"

"It seems like your duels with my subjects has put quite a toll on your duel disk," Azuryu mused, "In that condition, there's no way you can duel me...unless you want your arm to blow off,"

Jaden smirked, "Oh c'mon, it's not gonna blow up on me...watch!" he held out his arm as his duel disk whirred to live. However, Jaden's smile disappeared when sparks began to fly out of the machinery, "WHOA!"

With surprising speed, Azuryu appeared in front of Jaden, ripped the duel disk off his arm and tossed it behind him. Everyone watched as the disk shook for a few moments, sparks continuing to fly out until it finally exploded, sending bits and pieces of metal and plastic into the air.

Jaden and the others stared at the wreckage.

"Whoa...,"

Azuryu rolled his eyes, "Humans never listen to the wisdom of dragons. So, now it seems that I really can't duel you, Jaden," he turned and walked back to the other side, "Looks like my plan is at a standstill...shame,"

"Oh please, you think Jaden's the only one that can duel out of our group?"

The King of the North Clan stopped and looked over his shoulder. Chazz was stepping in front of the group, a smug look on his face.

Azuryu looked at Chazz for a few moments, then looked away, "You do have a point, human...it seems your entire group is made up of duelists,"

Chazz scoffed, "I wouldn't say the entire group. I'm the best one out of the whole bunch, to tell you the truth,"

Noah leaned over to Alexis, "Ego-maniac, isn't he?"

"You have no idea...,"

"Brother, are we interrupting, or are we in time?"

Azuryu, as well as Jaden turned to see Christina enter the large room, followed by a man who looked nearly identical to Azuryu, except he had a head of white hair with brown streaks as opposed to Azuryu's brown hair with white streaks.

"Dude, there's two of them?" Siho looked back and forth at the guys, "Man, and I thought one Kaiba look-a-like was bad enough,"

"Chrissy, are you okay?" Alexis called out, "We came to help you!"

The brunette nodded and waved at them, "I'm fine guys, no worries!"

Jordan sighed, "That's good...," he turned and pointed angrily at Azuryu, "You got some balls holding our friend captive!"

"Uh, Jordan, don't make him angry...," Christina ran a finger across her throat, "Not a good idea...,"

Azuryu turned and his eyes locked onto Jordan, "You have a sharp tongue like the female here,"

"I have a name...,"

Jaden held up his hand, "Look, we just wanna know why you took Chrissy,"

"It's because-," Christina started, but was cut off when Azuryu held up a hand.

The King cleared his throat, "We have heard of your exploits, Jaden Yuki. You have defeated some of my subjects in the forest, subjects that are rather strong. Your victories over them have peaked my interest and I wanted to test your abilities, but since you have lost your weapon," he glanced at the smoking duel disk off to the side, "It seems we can't do that,"

"Hey, no problem, I'll give him my disk," Siho volunteered.

Khamille pulled him away and held up the now open guidebook to the virtual realm, "We can't do that, Siho!" she tapped the page, "It says here that the only way a duelist can replace a broken duel disk, or upgrade it, you'll have to buy one,"

"Okay, no problem...how much is a new disk?"

Khamille flipped through the book, "Oh, about...10,000 gold pieces," she turned to him, "How much do we have collected since we started?"

After quickly counting their loot, Siho hung his head, "Man...not even half that! We only got 4,700 gold pieces!"

"Looks like he won't be able to duel for awhile...," Khamille sighed, "Not good, is it?"

"Nope,"

"I'm curious about something," Bastion held his chin in thought, "I can understand wanting to duel Jaden, believe me, we all do, but why go to such lengths as to abducting a friend?"

Shiryu walked to his brother's side, "I can explain that,"

"Shiryu!"

"They have a right to know, brother," Shiryu exhaled loudly, "As you probably know through your travels, our clan is at war with the Southern Dragon Clan. We need something or someone with enough power to tip the scales, so when we heard of you, Jaden, we hoped you would be of help to us,"

Jaden blinked, "You want me to help you fight?"

"My brother does," Shiryu nodded to Azuryu, "This conflict began when our brother was killed by the Southern Clan leader. For a long time, we have wanted to end this war, but since Lord Revastan will not aid us, we are looking for any help we can find,"

"Is this Lord really that strong?" Chazz asked in a bored tone, hands behind his head, "We're on our way to clobber him in a duel...well, we were," he shot an annoyed glance at both Jaden and Christina.

Both the brother's eyes widened.

"You are going to go and duel Lord Revastan?" they asked in unison.

Chazz nodded, "Yeah, got a problem with that?"

The brothers exchanged glances before turning back to them.

"Lord Revastan, for a human, has immense dueling strength. All three of us, when our brother was still with us, used to challenge him, but the only one who ever came close to defeating him was Azushiryu, our big brother,"

"Pfft, so?" Chazz scoffed, "From the looks of you, you both are weaklings. I bet even your brother was weak,"

Shiryu had to hold his now pissed off brother back while Chazz had to scramble backward, startled.

"Great, nice going, Chazz," Christina nodded and gave a thumbs up, "Piss off the Blue Eyes twins,"

"Blue Eyes?" Bastion raised an eyebrow, then looked hard at the brothers, "Of course, it makes sense now!"

"What does?" Chazz muttered, still hiding behind Siho.

Bastion turned around, "The reason the two of them look like the famous Seto Kaiba and why Christina called them Blue Eyes. Don't you see?"

"No...?"

"I'm making an educated guess here, but I bet there were three Blue Eyes White Dragons originally in this region and if each one of them, in human form, looks like Seto Kaiba, that means that the programmers of the game modeled them after Kaiba and his legendary dragon cards!"

Khamille shook her head, _Kristerr...an odd way to make characters, but a nice touch, nonetheless!_

"Look, I'm sorry that you can't duel me, pal," Jaden shrugged, "We'll just take our friend and leave,"

Shiryu held up his hand, "Wait a moment, please!" he turned to Azuryu and whispered something in his ear. His brother's face turned to one of slight surprise, then disgust. He turned to him, "Are you mad, brother? I wanted Jaden, not a nobody!"

"Yep, that guy's based off Kaiba, alright," Siho muttered under his breath.

"Just think of it, brother!" Shiryu pleaded, "If Jaden cannot fight for us, then perhaps someone in this group can! You know that those of strong power flock with their own kind! Surely, someone in this group can help us in the war!"

"Someone who's strong, eh?" Chazz chuckled and wiped his nose, grinning smugly, "Well, how can The Chazz refuse such flattery?"

Alexis shoved him away, "Get over yourself, Chazz!"

Azuryu glared at his brother a while, then sighed in defeat, "Fine...we shall test someone else, but who?"

"Yo, right-," Chazz was cut off as Jordan shoved him back into Khamille.

"RIGHT HERE!" Jordan shouted, hand held high, "I'll take you on, right here and right now!"

Alexis sighed and held her head, "Jordy...,"

Bastion chuckled, "Looks like I was too late," he lowered his own hand, "I was eager to duel the King myself,"

Shiryu looked at them both, tapping his chin before turning to his brother, a small grin on his face. Azuryu saw the grin and an identical one crossed his face.

"You don't mind, do you, brother?"

"I suppose not...it gets boring, taking on everyone, after a while,"

The two of them turned to the humans, "We shall duel you both,"

Bastion and Jordan both took a look of surprise.

"What?"

"Pardon?"

Christina and Jaden high-fived each other, large smiles crossing their faces while Siho made his own grin behind them.

"Sweet, a tag duel!"

"Good luck, you two!" Chrissy patted them both on the back before shoving them forward, onto the soon to be battlefield, "Don't disappoint us!"

Chazz turned to Khamille, "Are they serious? Misawa and Lexi's annoying cousin against monsters modeled after Kaiba and his dragons? This'll be a slaughter,"

"How do you figure?" she asked, tilting her head to the side as the four duelists approached one another, decks and disks at the ready.

"C'mon, even I can figure this out," Chazz tapped his head, "If these bozos were modeled after Kaiba and his dragons, then I'm sure their decks are a lot like his, full of power and contingencies for dueling!"

Khamille clicked her tongue, "Impressive...,"

"Not really, it's simple!"

"No, I mean that you used a big word like contingencies," the female duelist cracked, "Hurt yourself on that one, Chazzy?"

"Why you-!!"

"ENOUGH!" Azuryu screamed as both his and his brother's disk whirred to life, "Let's duel, humans!"

"Bring it on!" Jordan shot back, turning on his disk.

Bastion nodded as his own came to life, "Indeed!"

Noah looked at them both as Jaden put away his deck, that he barely rescued from the explosion shortly before.

"This will be interesting...,"

**-----------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Kilnorc: Yeah, another one without a duel. The reason for this? Gotta go over decklists, lol...next one, as ya'll can tell, will definitely have the duel. It'll take me a bit to post because it's a tag one. Hopefully, this was good and ya'll enjoyed it!**


	10. Battle Royale Part One

**Battle Royale Part One**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX.**

**------------------------------------------------------------------**

**A: 4000  
S: 4000  
B: 4000  
J: 4000**

"Royalty first!" Azuryu barked, after drawing his hand, then sixth card, "I place one card facedown, and I summon Kaiser Sea Horse (1700/1650) in attack mode, and end my turn," he said as a finned creature appeared on his field.

"Very well, my turn," Bastion drew his card, "I summon Mathematician (1500/500) and as I do, his special ability activates! When he summoned, I must take one card from my deck and send it to the Graveyard," he paused and swiped the mentioned card into his Graveyard slot, "I end my turn with a facedown,"

Shiryu drew his card, "I summon Blade Knight (1600/1000) in attack mode, then I play the Spell card White Dragon Ritual! I sacrifice the Spear Dragon (1900/0) in my hand to summon Paladin of White Dragon (1900/1200) in attack mode!" he declared as two impressive men in armor appeared on the field, "I place two cards facedown on the field, and since I have less than one card in my hand," he held up his empty hand, "My Blade Knight gains 400 points! I end my turn,"

Blade Knight (2000/1000)

"Call that a move? Watch this!" Jordan drew his card, "I play the Spell card Gadget Combination! By paying up 1000 Life Points, I can summon my faithful Gadget monsters from my deck! So, c'mon out, Red, Yellow, and Green Gadgets!". Jordan's deck glowed and soon, three cog-like monsters appeared on the field. The boy held up another card from his hand, "I place one card facedown and end my turn,"

**A: 4000  
S: 4000  
B: 4000  
J: 3000**

Green Gadget (1400/600)  
Red Gadget (1300/1500)  
Yellow Gadget (1200/1200)

Bastion glanced at his partner, "Jordan, be careful with your strategy! If these two are as strong as they say they are, don't throw your Life Points away so soon!"

"I'm not, Bastion, trust me! This is how I duel!"

"Yes...," Bastion turned to his opponents, "You duel with a flawed strategy,"

Azuryu drew his next card, "I sacrifice my Kaiser Sea Horse in order to summon Seiyaryu (2500/2300)!" he said evenly as a beautiful dragon with violet scales and sharp looking wings appeared on the field.

"Hold on!" Jordan protested, "That's a Level 7 monster! You need two sacrifices!"

"Not exactly in this case," Bastion shook his head, "If he uses Kaiser Sea Horse to summon a Light-Attribute monster, it can count as two sacrifices, instead of one. Jordan, I suggest you study Tribute Summoning sometime,"

"Listen, smart ass-,"

"Seiyaryu, attack Mathematician now!"

The beautiful dragon roared and reared back it's head, a light shining in the back of it's mouth. Everyone watched as a beam of bright light shot outward, and crashed in Mathematician. Bastion covered his eyes as his monster was destroyed.

**A: 4000  
S: 4000  
B: 3000  
J: 3000**

"I activate my Trap card!" Bastion pressed a button on his disk, "Last Magnet! I can activate this card when a monster of mine is destroyed in battle! Now, your monster...," he paused as a large, steel weight came crashing down on Seiyaryu, "...loses 800 attack points!"

Seiyaryu (1700/2300)

"That's not all. Since my Mathematician was destroyed in battle, I get to draw a new card," Bastion explained as he drew a new card from his deck.

Azuryu nodded slightly, "I end my turn,"

Bastion drew his next card, "I summon my Magnet Warrior Sigma Plus (1800/1500) in attack mode and then I play the Spell card, Graceful Charity! This card allows me to draw three cards, but I must discard two of them," he drew three new cards, looked at them all and sent two of them to the Graveyard, "Magnet Warrior Sigma Plus, attack with Lode Stone Baton Bash!"

His Magnet Warrior twirled it's baton around as it sped towards the weakened dragon. The magnetic monster brought it's baton down hard on it's head, blasting the dragon to pieces.

**A: 3900  
S: 4000  
B: 3000  
J: 3000**

"I end my turn with one facedown card,"

Shiryu drew his card, "I summon my own Kaiser Sea Horse in attack mode, and then I activate my two facedown Trap cards!" he pressed a button on his disk, "My first one is called Gift of the Mystical Elf, this one gives me 300 Life Points for each monster out on the field, regardless of it's position!" he explained as his monsters, Jordan's monsters, and Bastion's Magnet warrior glowed brightly, his life points going up.

**A: 3900  
S: 5900  
B: 3000  
J: 3000**

"Next up, my other Trap card known as Solar Ray! For each of my Light-Attribute monsters, I deal my opponet 600 points of damage. Since you two are my opponents and I have three Light monsters, I deal you both 1800 points of damage!"

"I'm afraid you're wrong there!" Bastion cried as his facedown card was revealed, "Activate Mystical Space Typhoon! With this, I can destroy your Trap card!"

Shiryu looked away as the Trap was blasted away, "No matter, I still have my monsters," he pointed to Bastion, "You'll pay for that...Blade Knight, attack and destroy his Magnet Warrior Sigma Plus!" he ordered.

Bastion could only watch as Blade Knight's gleaming sword cut through his warriors baton, slicing through the monster.

**A: 3900  
S: 5900  
B: 2800  
J: 3000**

"Now, my Paladin," he pointed to Jordan's weakest monster, "Destroy Yellow Gadget!"

The knight on the small dragon sped towards Jordan, lance pulled back for a powerful strike.

Jordan grinned, "Sorry, but I don't think so!" he pressed a button and his facedown was revealed, "Activate Trap card, Stronghold the Moving Fortress (0/2000)! When I activate this Trap card, not only do I summon it to my field as a monster, but with my Gadget monsters on the field, his attack points changes to 3000!" he explained as the Gadgets jumped into the holes on the giant monster's body.

Stronghold the Moving Fortress (3000/2000)

"Stronghold, counter-attack now!"

The huge metal golem brought down a mighty fist onto the Paladin's head, crushing it.

**A: 3900  
S: 4800  
B: 2800  
J: 3000**

Shiryu let out a growl, "Interesting move...for a human," he looked at his final monster, the Sea Horse, "Kaiser!" he pointed to Bastion, "Attack him directly, now!"

Bastion could do nothing as Kaiser Sea Horse sped past, raking him with it's claws.

**A: 3900  
S: 4800  
B: 1100  
J: 3000**

"I end my turn,"

-----

Alexis shook her head, "Man, who would've thought my cousin and Bastion would be dueling Kaiba-like people?"

"Feh," Chazz scoffed, "They're toast,"

Alexis slapped him upside the head, "Shut it, Chazz!"

Jaden watched the duel closely, "Man, Bastion's getting clobbered and Jordan looks like he's ready to bring the pain,"

"Not for long," Khamille folded her arms, "If these guys are based off Kaiba in both appearance and deck, then the big boys should be coming very soon,"

"Big boys?" everyone turned to her.

Khamille nodded, "The_big_ boys,"

-----

Jordan drew his next card, "I summon Drillago (1600/1100) in attack mode and...," he looked at his hand as his drill covered monster entered the field, "Stronghold, destroy Blade Knight!"

The giant machine golem brought down it's huge fist again, this time on the knight, smashing it into the ground.

**A: 3900  
S: 3800  
B: 1100  
J: 3000**

"Drillago, activate your ability and attack Shiryu directly!"

-----

"Ability, what ability?" Christina scratched her head.

Alexis sighed, "Remember when you first dueled Jordy, Chrissy? Drillago's ability allows him to attack his opponent directly if he has a monster that has more than 1600 attack points,"

"How could you forget that?" Siho asked, glancing at his friend, "He whooped you in that duel and you forgot!"

"BITE ME!"

-----

Shiryu fell to one knee, holding his side as Drillago returned to it's masters side.

**A: 3900  
S: 2200  
B: 1100  
J: 3000**

Jordan slid a card into his disk and seconds later, glowing swords fell upon the field, "I use my Spell card, Swords of Revealing Light! For three turns, neither of you can attack us! I end my turn with that," he said confidently.

Bastion frowned as Azuryu drew his next card, _Be cautious Jordan...I have a feeling something big is about to occur!_

Azuryu looked at his hand, glanced at his twin and grinned, "Well, humans, I must admit, you do have some talent, putting up a defense and retaliating against us like you have, but I'm afraid that it's all futile now!"

Khamille clenched her teeth, "Here it comes...,"

"First, I play my Trap card, Call of the Haunted to bring back my Kaiser Sea Horse to the field...," Azuryu paused as his monster appeared on the field, "But it won't be staying for long! I sacrifice Kaiser Seahorse to summon Kaiser Glider (2400/2200)!"

An impressive, golden dragon with a fiery aura flew down from the sky and hovered in the Sea Horse's place, flames leaking out of it's mouth.

"That's not all, I play Pot of Greed, " he paused as he drew two cards, "Next, I play a Ritual Spell, one you should know by now thanks to my brother," Azuryu chuckled, "I activate White Dragon Ritual, and with the sacrifice of Divine Dragon Ragnarok (1500/1000) from my hand, I will summon Paladin of White Dragon, but he won't be staying long either, for I shall sacrifice him in order the beast that will crush all opposition!" he laughed as his Paladin disappeared and soon, a beautiful, but deadly and easily recognizable monster appeared, hovering high above the playing field.

Bastion and Jordan couldn't help but stare in awe at the infamous beast that floated in the air.

_Holy crap..._! Jordan thought, gulping.

_The legendary monster from the deck of Seto Kaiba himself_! Bastion closed his gaping jaw, _We may be in trouble..._

"Welcome to the field...the Blue-Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500)!" Azuryu smiled widely, "Humans, you wanted to duel us and now, you will regret it!!!"

**To Be Continued...**

**---------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Kilnorc: The duel was rocky enough, but now one of the most famous beasts of Duel Monsters has appeared! This ain't gonna go well...**

**P.S. hope it was good, and I hope I didn't screw anything up!**


	11. Battle Royale Part Two

**Battle Royale Part Two**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX.**

_**Last time, on Cyber Battles, Bastion's and Jordan's tag duel against the Northern Clan leader and his brother began with a series of back and forth offensive and defensive strategies. Bastion advised Jordan not to rush with the duel, but the young Rhodes shrugged him off and summoned one of his better monsters.**_

_**Their own strategies seemed to work for awhile...until Azuryu summoned one of the most famous and most powerful beasts in all of Duel Monster: the legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon! Can the two duelists overcome this obstacle, or will they be dragon fodder?**_

**------------------------------------------------------------------**

**A: 3900  
S: 2200  
B: 1100  
J: 3000**

Blue-Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500)  
Kaiser Glider (2400/2200)

Kaiser Sea Horse (1700/1650)

Stronghold the Moving Fortress (3000/2000)  
Drillago (1600/1100)

Bastion and Jordan stared at the famous dragon, the legendary beast that Seto Kaiba had in his deck. It was this monster that led Kaiba to many victories in his dueling career, and now, they were going against one of them! Lucky for them, Jordan's Swords of Revealing Light kept it at bay...

Azuryu held up the last card in his hand, "I play the Spell card Heavy Storm! This card destroys all Spell and Trap cards on the field, including the Moving Fortress and the Swords!"

Jordan's powerful monster, as well as the one thing keeping their Life Points safe, were blown away by a strong wind. Stronghold disappeared, leaving Jordan's Gadget monsters on the field.

Green Gadget (1400/600)  
Red Gadget (1300/1500)  
Yellow Gadget (1200/1200)

"Kaiser Glider, destroy Red Gadget!"

The golden dragon opened it's mouth and let loose a torrent of red-hot flame, covering the gadget monster completely with fire. Jordan watched as his machine monster melted before his eyes.

**A: 3900  
S: 2200  
B: 1100  
J: 1900**

"Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" Azuryu pointed to Yellow Gadget, "Attack with White Lightning!"

Jordan covered his head as the legendary dragon's signature attack crashed into his other gadget, severely lowering his Life Points.

**A: 3900  
S: 2200  
B: 1100  
J: 100**

"I end my turn, humans,"

Bastion looked at Jordan, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Jordan muttered, lowering his arms, "Just frickin' peachy! We gotta take down that dragon, Bastion...any ideas?"

"One, but I don't have every card I need," Bastion looked at his deck, _But with the way I've made my Earth deck, and the way I've been dueling, that card should be coming up now, statistically speaking..._

Bastion drew his card and a smile crossed his face, "Time to turn things around, my friend! First, I place one card facedown on the field, and then I shall summon the monster that will show your dragon what superiority is!"

Jordan turned and stared at him, "What in the world are you talking about?! What monster could you possibly have that can take down a Blue-Eyes?"

"Watch and learn, Jordan!" Bastion held up three cards, "I send to the Graveyard, from my hand, Alpha the Magnet Warrior (1400/1700), Beta the Magnet Warrior (1700/1600), and Gamma the Magnet Warrior (1500/1800) in order to summon their combined form: Valkyrion the Magna Warrior (3500/3850) in attack mode!"

An impressive, multi-colored monster was soon created from flying metallic parts that soared through the air and assembled itself in front of Bastion. Jordan, their friends, even the brothers were surprised by the monster's appearance.

-----

"Holy crap!" Christina's jaw dropped, "That can't be the same monster that he...,"

Siho nodded, "It is!"

Jaden looked at them, confused, "What's up with you two?"

Chazz rolled his eyes, "Slacker...," he shook his head, "Valkyrion the Magna Warrior is one of the signature monsters from Yugi Motou's deck!"

"What?!" Jaden snapped his head back to the duel, "Are you serious?!"

Alexis sighed, "Did you even go to class last year, Jaden?"

"Of course! Best z's I ever caught were in the classroom!"

Christina nudged Siho in the chest, "...and _you_ say _I'm_ dense!"

"There are times, Chrissy,"

Alexis sighed again and looked at the monster, "I didn't know Bastion even had those other magnet monsters in his deck. I thought those Sigma monsters we saw in his duel against Tanya were the only ones in his earth deck, but apparently, there's more to Bastion's deck," she shook her head in amazement, "A card strong enough to take down the Blue-Eyes White Dragon! Man, Jordy must be green with envy right now!"

"Or red with anger," Chazz pointed to Alexis' cousin, who was glaring at the monster, "He looks really pissed off, Lexi,"

-----

Indeed, Jordan was angry. He was angry at the fact that not only did Bastion had a monster that could take out the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and he didn't tell him, not one single hint! Bastion, however, was too involved with his strategy to even notice Jordan's mood.

"Valkyrion, destroy the Blue-Eyes White Dragon now!" the analytic duelist ordered.

Everyone watched in amazement as the familiar Magnet Warrior struck and blew Blue-Eyes off the field. Azuryu grunted and covered his eyes as his monster exploded in a blinding flash of light.

**A: 3400  
S: 2200  
B: 1100  
J: 100**

"Before I end my turn...I shall sacrifice my Valkyrion in order to Special Summon, from my Graveyard, all three Magnet Warriors. So, come back to me, Alpha, Gamma, and Beta!" he ordered, his larger Magnet Warrior disappearing and splitting into three separate glowing forms, "_Now_, I end my turn,"

-----

"WAY TO GO, BASTION!" Christina shouted, clapping rapidly, "RIGHT ON!"

Alexis just stared in amazement, "He actually took down a Blue Eyes!" she shook her head, "This reminds me a bit of your duel with Dimitri when he stole Yugi's deck last year," she said, turning to Jaden, who was too preoccupied cheering his friend on, "Hey!"

Chazz scoffed, "Just luck," he turned away, "I could take out _two_ of those things!"

Alexis just rolled her eyes and turned back to the duel, "Great job, guys! Jordy, take 'em down!"

-----

Shiryu drew his card and looked at Bastion's monsters, then at Jordan's line of defense. The dragon only had one card in his hand and with a sigh, he slipped it into his disk, "I place one card facedown and I switch my Sea Horse into defense mode," he murmured, his monster curling up behind it's fins, "I end my turn,"

"Brother, what are you doing?!" Azuryu barked at him, pointing at Jordan's monsters, "Why didn't you finish him off?!"

"Because, I like the thrill...," Shiryu glanced at him, "...and _don't_ tell me how to duel, brother!"

While the two of them bickered, Jordan drew his card and looked at the others, _They're all topdecking now, since they no longer have any cards in their hands...this could work to be an advantage to me, but I dunno...all I do know is that I'm running out of points, and we gotta take them out before a new Blue-Eyes comes to the field!_

"C'mon, Jordy!" Alexis called from behind him, "You can do it! Show them what Rhodes are made of!"

Oh, believe me, Alexis, I'm about to! Jordan grinned, "I place one card facedown, and then I play my Polymerization!" he held up the last two cards from his hand, "I fuse both my Barrel Dragon (2600/2200) and my Blowback Dragon (2300/1200) to summon Gatling Dragon (2600/1200)!"

Jordan's large, metal dragon on spiked wheels appeared between him and Shiryu, the latter looking sincerely impressed by the move.

"Seems like it was a good idea to duel these two, brother," he thought aloud to Azuryu, "They do not have Jaden's reputation, but they do seem to have strong monsters on their side,"

Azuryu snorted, "Just get on with it, human...,"

"With pleasure!" Jordan's grin widened, "I activate my Dragon's special effect! Once, every turn, I can flip a coin and every time it comes up heads, a monster on the field is destroyed!" he explained as a holographic gold coin appeared on the field.

It flipped.

Heads.

It flipped again.

Tails.

It flipped one more time.

Tails.

"Only once, but that's more than enough," Jordan pointed to the side, right towards Kaiser Glider, "Say goodbye!"

Azuryu turned his head as Kaiser Glider was blasted by Gatling Dragon's effect, "Damn you, human!"

"I ain't done yet!" Jordan turned back to Shiryu's monster, "Gatling Dragon, destroy Kaiser Sea Horse with Gatling Gun Burst!"

As soon as the Dragon opened fire, Shiryu pressed a button on his disk, "I activate my facedown Trap card, Enchanted Javelin!" he cried out as a strange spear appeared between him and the blast, "This card increases my Life Points equal to your monsters attack points!"

**A: 3400  
S: 4800  
B: 1100  
J: 100**

After his Points were increased, Shiryu's spear disappeared and the attack continued, riddling his Sea Horse full of holes, destroying it completely.

_Damn!_ Jordan cursed in his mind, _He set me up! He's got more Life Points than he did when he started dueling, all because of that damn Trap...well, at least I'm still able to attack with two more monsters!_

"C'mon, Jordy," Alexis called again, "You can still do this!"

"That's right, kid, go!" Siho yelled from the other side.

Jordan nodded, "You're completely defenseless now, pal! Green Gadget and Drillago, attack him directly!"

Both the Gadget and drill covered mechanical monster charged at Shiryu, striking him swift and hard, taking a large chunk of his new amount of Life Points with them.

**A: 3400  
S: 1800  
B: 1100  
J: 100**

"I end my turn," he turned to his partner, "They're vulnerable, Bastion! Either take 'em out with all three Magnets or Valkyrion, just take 'em out!"

Bastion nodded slightly, "Just be patient, Jordan,"

Azuryu glared at them both, "I'll admit, you two have been formidable...but I'll be damned if we, the Northern Dragon Clan's leaders are beaten by mere human children!" he drew his card, "I summon Luster Dragon (1900/1600) in attack mode!"

Both humans watched as a large, but beautiful dragon covered in glittering sapphires appeared on the field, pawing at the ground.

"Bad way to end a duel," Jordan shook his head, "We so got this in the bag!"

"So you think," Azuryu turned to him, "To win, eliminate the weakest link...Luster Dragon!" he pointed to Jordan, "Destroy that boy's Gadget!"

-----

Christina tugged at her hair as they watched the Luster Dragon reared it's head back, "Oh man...he didn't even get to the first major boss of the game...," she turned away, "I can't watch this!"

Alexis chuckled, "You should, because Jordy's about to pull a fast one,"

"Huh?"

-----

"I activate my Trap card, Draining Shield!" Jordan cried out as the green flames came at him, a see through barrier appeareing around him, "This card negates that attack and increases my Life Points equal to that monster's attack points!" he glanced at Shiryu as the blast hit his shield, his disk racking up the points., "Looks like we have the same instincts,"

**A: 3400  
S: 1800  
B: 1100  
J: 2000**

Shiryu nodded, smiling, "Indeed...,"

Jordan turned back to a seething Azuryu, "Too bad, boyo!"

Azuryu grit his teeth, "I...I...end my turn,"

Bastion chuckled as he drew his card, "Good...," he looked at the card in his hand, "I summon Magnet Warrior Sigma Minus (1500/1800) in attack mode," he paused as a new metal monster wielding a large, metal club appeared on the field alongside his other Magnet Warriors, "Now, since you attacked my partner, I think I'll return the favor," he pointed at the bare field of Shiryu, "Go, my Magnet Warriors! Full scale assault!"

All together, the four Magnet monsters rushed and gave Shiryu a combined attack that resulted in him flying across the room, his Life Point counter completely wiped clean.

**A: 3400  
S: 0  
B: 1100  
J: 2000**

"Brother!" Azuryu cried out, watching him fly.

"I end my turn, do it now, Jordan!"

Azuryu snapped his head around to see Jordan draw his card, a wide smile on his face.

"I activate my Dragon's ability once again!" Jordan paused as the holo-coin appeared on the field, "C'mon, baby, gimme one!"

The holo-coin flipped.

Tails

The coin flipped again.

Tails.

Jordan gulped as the coin flipped one last time, Come on...come on!

Everyone watched silently as the coin hit the floor and rolled around for a few moments before settling down on one side.

Heads.

"YES!" Jordan whooped, "Gatling Dragon's effect destroys your Luster Dragon, leaving you wide open! Green Gadget, Drillago, do your thing!"

Once again, the two monsters charged at the enemy, dealing a very large amount of damage to Azuryu's Life Points.

**A: 400  
S: 0  
B: 1100  
J: 2000**

"Gatling Dragon use Gatling Gun Burst and finish him off!"

Azuryu could only watch in stunned horror as the huge dragon let loose of volley of bullets that pummeled his body armor, sending him flying across the room, just like Bastion's monsters did to Shiryu.

**A: 0  
S: 0  
B: 1100  
J: 2000**

"Game over!"

-----

Kairi's jaw dropped at the results, "They...they just took out...two Blue-Eyes White Dragons in a duel!"

Kristerr nodded in thought, "Looks like the difficulty setting is right. We wanted tough opponents, but not too tough, otherwise people wouldn't want to play...,"

"That makes sense...," Kairi scratched her head, "Wait a minute. If these guys are Blue-Eyes, some of the strongest monsters in the game, how strong is Lord Revastan?!"

"Well...," Kristerr shrugged, "There's been some tests and various results...but we'll see just how tough he is when they get there. Get some real duelist feedback, and hopefully, it'll help the game out,"

-----

"It seems that Jaden's not the only one that has some strength," Shiryu chuckled, "At least three human children with good enough dueling skills to defeat my brother and I...,"

Azuryu snorted, rubbing his neck, "I just went easy on them, that's the only reason they won,"

Shiryu chuckled again, "Please, do forgive my brother. He's a prideful dragon,"

"With him being modeled after a certain celebrity, I'm not surprised," Alexis muttered under her breath.

Jaden laughed at the comment, "Well, I'm just glad all you guys are okay. That was a sweet duel!"

Bastion nodded, "I rather enjoyed it,"

"I'm glad you did," Shiryu nodded, "I enjoyed it myself. You and your friend are quite skilled. Though...I must say, you two should practice tag-dueling," he sighed with content, then his face turned to one of seriousness, "Are you still going to go to see Lord Revastan, you two barely beat us?"

Jaden nodded, "Of course! Our thing with you guys is pretty much done, so we have to keep going!" he blinked a few times, "Aw man, we forgot about Evan! We gotta go back for him!"

"Uhm...I doubt he's still there...,"

Everyone turned to see Khamille walking towards them.

"Hey, Kham, where you been?" Christina asked her.

"I went to go check and see if we have still daylight and...well...,"

"Well what?" Azuryu rose to his feet, "Is something wrong?"

Khamille opened her mouth to explain, but shook her head, "You guys need to see this for yourselves!"

**----------------------------------------------------------------**

**Kilnorc: Alright, that chapter's done! Long one, eh? I hope I kept everything on the right track, I worked long and hard on this one, so I hope you all enjoyed it! I was gonna put in what Khamille saw...but I figured I'd be slightly evil and leave a cliffy, BWAHAHAHAHAHA! Alright, I had my evil laugh.**


	12. In the Darkness is the Light

**In the Darkness is the Light**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX**

**-----------------------------------------------------------------**

"You guys just left him there?! He was our guide to the Manor!"

"Hey, don't bite my head off, Chrissy, I'm not the one who volunteered him to stay behind! He was!"

"Bullcrap!"

Azuryu growled slightly, he and the children were moving back to the mouth of the cave, Khamille ahead of them by a few feet. The Blue-Eyes growled again, hearing Christina's and Siho's argument, "So annoying...,"

"Tell me about it," Chazz muttered under his breath, "Can't get rid of them...believe me, I've tried,"

"Just like we've tried to get rid of _you_, Chazz, now shut up!" Jordan snapped.

Azuryu did his best not to rip off the boys' heads as they walked. He walked up to Khamille, "So, tell me, human, what did you see?" he asked as they approached the cave's entrance.

"Something that'll probably give me nightmares for awhile...,"

The clan leader was about to ask her again, but when they came to a complete stop, he and everyone else saw what Khamille thought they needed to see. Dragons, dozens of them! Most of them were laying motionless on the mountain, wounds covering their bodies, while the rest were falling from the sky.

"The Southern Clan!" Azuryu growled, eyes going dragonic, "So, they've come, eh?"

"Now, before you go all Godzilla on us," Khamille tapped his shoulder, pointing upward into the sky, "Ya might wanna see..._that_,"

Everyone looked up and their eyes widened at the sight that was above them. High in the sky, was a familiar sight. It was the dragon they all had seen back at Evan's villages, the one that routed the Dark Dragon invaders. On the back of the dragon, was the familiar sight of the robed Lord Revastan, who was facing what appeared to be a human in dark armor with wings growing out of his back.

"What da hell?" Christina blinked, "Dude!"

Chazz smirked at the sight of the Lord, "Looks like the dork came to us,"

"But who's that with him?" Jaden asked, pointing to the dark armored person.

"Kuroryu...," both Shiryu and Azuryu muttered together.

Christina looked at them, then up at the sky, "The Southern Clan leader?"

Azuryu nodded, "The one who killed our brother!"

Before anyone could ask anything more, a loud explosion flashed in the sky and a deafening boom echoed all around them, making them cover their ears.

"THE HELL WAS THAT?!" Siho shouted.

"Guys!" Alexis pointed back up to the sky.

Everyone looked up again, but this time, they saw the person in dark armor fall to the mountain, leaving a trail of smoke behind him.

"Brother, at that angle and speed...," Shiryu turned to Azuryu, "He'll land right at-,"

"Damn him! Even with him dead, our brother is attacked! Come, Shiryu, we must finish this fool off and win the war!"

Both of them pushed off the ground and flew off in the direction of the falling clan leader.

Christina cursed, "C'mon, guys, we gotta follow 'em!" she shouted, taking the lead, "Move it!"

The group of young duelists ran after the dragon brothers, following them to a large, open area on the side of the mountain. On one side, the fallen leader of the Southern Dragons lay on the rock, smoke rising from his armor, while on the other side, a mound of rocks sat, taking the shape of a small dragon.

_Must be where their brother's remains are_... she thought, looking back at the brothers, who quickly advanced on Kuroryu. Everyone watched as Azuryu reached down, grabbed the wounded dragon's throat and lifted him high enough up for them all to see. When the children saw his face, their jaws dropped and their eyes widened...especially Christina's.

"NO EFFIN' WAY!"

Bastion shook his head, "I'm not that surprised, but then again...,"

Kuroryu, with the exception of a head full of black hair, looked exactly like another famous duelist. Joey Wheeler, to be more specific.

Jaden pointed to Kuroryu, looking at his friends, "How come he looks like Joey?"

Most of them could only shake their heads in silence, unable to answer at the moment.

Bastion chuckled, "It's obvious, isn't?"

"No...that's why I asked,"

"Ah, of course, well, you see," Bastion pointed to the Blue-Eyes brothers, "Both of them are modeled after Seto Kaiba and their dragon form is that of the legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon, right?"

"Yeah...?"

"It's the same for him," Bastion nodded to Kuroryu, "If he is modeled after Joey Wheeler, who many people thought was a rival of sorts to Kaiba, then his well-known dragon is his dragon form!"

"You mean...,"

Bastion nodded, "Yes! The Red-Eyes Black Dragon! Who else is perfect to portray the enemy of the Blue-Eyes, as well as being the Southern Dragon clan leader?"

"You came to attack us, but you didn't count on Lord Revastan being in the area, eh?"

Everyone looked back to see Azuryu clutching the Dark dragon by the throat, his fingers squeezing more and more by the second.

Jaden frowned, This isn't right...

"Hey, hold on!"

Azuryu looked over his shoulder at Jaden, who didn't look very happy, "What?"

"You're not trying to kill him, are you?!"

"Of course, I am! Why not? He's weak and he killed our brother, starting this damn war! Because of him, we lost our brother and now, our sister is dying!"

Kuroryu reached up and grabbed Azuryu's wrist, "I...didn't...kill...him...," he gasped.

"LIAR!" Azuryu roared, his eyes flashing, "We know the two of you battled, and we know that you killed him!"

"I...battled him...yes...," Kuroryu wheezed, pulling at the fingers around his neck, "But...I left ...him alive...wounded but alive...! It was you...who provoked us...into war!"

Jaden and Christina ran up to them.

"Stop this right now!"

"Listen to him! You're angry, we get that, but will killing him really bring your brother back?"

"No, but-,"

"But what?!" Christina half-shouted, "If you kill him, more and more of his kind will come, wanting revenge themselves! Violence begets violence, pal! If you kill him, you will have a never ending cycle of pain and loss! Humans and monsters are already dying in the crossfire of this war, you really want this to keep going? Lose more of your kind every day?! Think about Aoiryu! She may be dying, but do you really want her last days in this world to be filled with hate and bloodshed?! Think of your family!" she pointed to Shiryu, "What if you fall and he's the last ruler the clan has? Or, what if Shiryu gets killed and you're left with nothing but more pain for losing another brother!"

The other duelists who were watching stared at her.

"Wow...," Alexis blinked a few times, "Christina may be a ditz at times, but when she gets serious, she really goes all out, huh?"

Siho nodded, "When it comes to certain things like fighting and dueling, she's serious!"

"Explains why she always has that 'don't-screw-around-with-me' attitude when she duels," Khamille thought aloud.

Christina and Jaden stared hard at Azuryu, who seemed to be battling with his thoughts. They were relieved, and a bit surprised when Azuryu dropped his rival clan leader.

"Thank you," Christina murmured as Jaden rushed to the other dragon's side.

Azuryu snorted, "Doesn't matter if I choke him or not...he's too badly wounded anyway. He's dying,"

"WHAT?!"

Kuroryu coughed, "He's right...I'm not long for this world, though I thank you for your attempt to save me, humans," he looked up at them, "But before I die, you should know the truth about what happened to your brother, you two,"

"The truth is that you killed him in battle, you sonofa-,"

"Hey, hear the guy out!" Jaden interrupted, "Least let him get this off his chest, will ya?!"

Azuryu growled, "Fine...I'll let the liar tell whatever story he wishes before his life ends,"

Kuroryu coughed again, hand over the area of his armored chest where his heart would be, "It's true, that I did battle Azushiryu, and I did beat him with a stroke of great luck, but when I left the battlefield, he was alive! His wounds weren't too serious, he could've recovered, but he didn't,"

"Why not?" Azuryu glared at him, "If your fable is true, then tell me why he didn't survive!" he pointed to the mound behind him, "Tell me why his remains are buried there, then!"

The Southern Clan leader shook his head, "I dunno...I don't have that answer-,"

"But _I_ do!" a loud, deep voice boomed, startling the group.

Kuroryu's eyes widened as he looked around, "What's he doing here?!"

Jaden looked at him, "Who's here?!"

The answer came in the form of a very large, and very horrific sight. A dragon, far larger then Azuryu and his brother in their natural forms, appeared from behind a nearby mountain wall. The dragon had not only a huge body, but a wingspan to match! It's entire body, as well as it's wings, were covered with dark green scales and bone-like armor. Needless to say, it didn't look very friendly, though it looked pleased.

Jaden stared at the dragon, "I know who that is! That's the Chaos Emperor Dragon!"

"Like that rare card that was banned from dueling because it was so powerful?!" Christina's jaw dropped, "We're boned...,"

The large dragon chuckled darkly as it looked at the carnage around them, "My clan seems to have taken casualties, but sacrifices are meant to be in war," he looked at Kuroryu and Azuryu, "You called my loyal warrior a liar, but when in reality, he was telling the truth!"

Azuryu and Shiryu stared, "WHAT?!"

Chaos Emperor Dragon chuckled, "You Lights are supposed to be so intelligent, but it seems that's just fiction. You see, it was me who killed your eldest brother, boys! I knew Kuroryu battled with him at times, so on his last fight, I followed him and when I saw that he had a chance to slay that fool, but didn't take it, I was enraged! However, I was able to use that to my advantage. I killed the wounded Blue-Eyes, and let Kuroryu take the blame!"

"But why?!" Kuroryu shouted, causing himself to cough again, "Why did you do it?"

"Foolish Kuroryu...you were always a loyal soldier, and a decent leader for the clan, but you were always too stupid to see the big picture!"

Chazz nodded, "That fits Joey Wheeler alright-OW!" he cried out as a rock hit him in the forehead. As he rubbed the lump, he saw Christina dusting her hands, "Why you-,"

"Chazz, shaddup, bad guy dialogue's going on, and that's something you should never miss!" Jordan cracked, "Hush!"

The large dragon climbed over the rocky terrain and approached them, "For a long time, we've had this damnable truce between the clans. We've always had a patch of territory for our own, but that wasn't enough for me! When I saw that glorious opportunity, I slaughtered that fool of a Blue-Eyes!"

Kuroryu frowned, "I don't understand...,"

"It was a coup," Bastion answered.

Christina nodded, "My thoughts exactly,"

Jaden looked at them both, "Huh? You two lost me...,"

"Yeah, you lost all of us," Alexis agreed, a confused look on her face.

"Bastion, you explain, that's your thing,"

"Very well, Christina," Bastion cleared his throat, "To put it simply," he pointed at the Chaos Dragon, "He was power hungry, so given the opportunity, he killed the Northern Clan leader and in doing so, started this war,"

Jaden scratched his head, "I'm still lost,"

"That upset the balance between Light and Darkness," Bastion continued, "During the war, there would be battles, battles that would have casualties from both sides. However, he didn't really care about his losses, he just cared if the Northern Clan suffered. If they were weakened enough, he would take over and rule over both North and South regions,"

The Chaos Emperor laughed heartily, "That human has quite the mind! He figured it out way before you two," he glanced at the Blue-Eyes', "You're not all high and mighty as you claim...but that doesn't matter! My time as ruler has come, I've waited long enough! I'll cleanse this mountain and claim in it my name!" he roared as he took flight, rising higher and higher into the air.

"Cleanse the mountain?" Jaden repeated, "I don't like the sound of that!"

"EVERYONE! GET OUT OF HERE! RUN!" Kuroryu screamed, "He's going to burn everything on the mountain to ashes! There'll be nothing left!"

"WHAT?!"

"I don't think so!"

Chaos Emperor Dragon snapped his head to the side to see Lord Revastan speeding towards him on his dragon, his wicked blade held tightly in his hand.

The true leader of the Southern Clan chortled, "Ah, the mighty Lord Revastan! So glad you could make it. You may have taken down most of my clan, but it gives me a chance to kill you and take over this entire land completely!"

Lord Revastan smirked under his hood.

"Now, witness the true power of the Dark Dragons!" Chaos Emperor opened his mouth wide and everyone watched as a bright green light appeared in the back of his throat, dozens of small lights being pulled into it.

"Everyone, take cover!" Jaden shouted, wrapping Kuroryu's arm around his neck, "Run for it!"

Kuroryu coughed violently, "There's no chance for any of us...,"

They watched as the light in Chaos Emperor's mouth grew and grew, the intensity of his power rising to a new level.

"Well, as I said before," Christina sighed, "We're boned!"

After gathering as much energy as possible, Chaos Emperor finally fired off the giant ball of energy from his mouth and watched in glee as the orb of green light descended upon the mountain range.

"DIE!"

"I don't think so!"

Chaos Emperor, as well as the ones below him, watched in much surprise as the ball suddenly vanished from existence. They also watched as Lord Revastan and his dragon hovered in front them, looking unusually calm.

The Lord patted his dragon, "Good boy, Felgrand...thanks for canceling that out," he looked up at Chaos Emperor, "Your evil intentions has plagued this land for long enough, Emperor! I will not let you run rampant anymore, and I sure as hell won't let anymore innocents suffer! Felgrand, use your other power so we can free this land!"

His dragon, Felgrand, roared and everyone watched as a sudden burst of white light filled the air before surrounding the beautiful dragon's body completely.

"What's going on?" Alexis gaped at the sight, "What's he doing?"

"...that's his power!" Azuryu murmured, "We've seen it in his duels, but never in battle! It's a rare sight, so don't blink,"

Everyone watched as Lord Revastan and Felgrand engaged the huge dragon. Felgrand fired off a blast of white energy from his mouth that collided with the dragon's chest, knocking him against the rocky slope of the mountain.

"Damn you, human!" Chaos Emperor screeched, glaring up at Lord Revastan, "I'll have your head for that!"

The cloaked warrior leapt off Felgrand and landed directly on the huge dragon's breast, the Sword of Dragon's Soul glinting in the sunlight. Lord Revastan plunged the sword as deep as he could into the breast of Chaos Emperor and twisted hard.

Instantly, a bright green light poured out of the wound, Chaos Emperor roared in agony, writhing in his place on the mountain, his scream of pain echoing all around the area for everyone and everything to hear. Everyone watched as Lord Revastan pulled out the blade, and seconds later, an explosion of light occurred, making them all cover their eyes.

_Man, Kristerr sure likes to make a game with explosions_! Khamille thought, wincing at the light, _Tone it down a bit, bro!_

The light only lasted a few moments, but when it died down and everyone lowered their arms, they were greeted with yet another shock. Lord Revastan was standing only a few feet away now, his cloak fluttering behind him, and his hood now lowered, revealing his face.

Jaden's eyes bulged, "EVAN?!"

"NO FRIGGIN' WAY!" Christina shouted, "Evan's Lord Revastan?!"

Chazz stared in silence as Evan walked past them all, heading straight for Kuroryu. He looked over his wounds, "I didn't mean to go that far, Kuro...,"

Kuroryu coughed again, "It's alright...you did what you had to, Dragon Prince. I don't hate you for it," he smiled a little, "I made a foolish mistake of challenging you, and now, I gotta pay the price,"

Evan looked at him for a few moments, then turned to the Blue-Eyes brothers, "I'm borrowing his remains," he said firmly before walking towards the mound.

"What?" Azuryu stormed after him, "What do you think you're going to do with my brother's remains? Can't he have peace in death?!"

"He's dead, but not gone," Evan looked over his shoulder at him, "His spirit is tied to this place, and I think he'd be happy to help out,"

Jaden looked at the others, "I'm lost...?"

"Got us," Alexis and Jordan shrugged.

Everyone watched as a bright orb of light appeared above the mound and floated towards Kuroryu, who had now reverted to his true form, the Red-Eyes Black Dragon.

"Kuro," Evan walked over to the dying dragon, "There is a chance to save you, but in doing so, there will be some conditions,"

"What kind?"

Evan looked at Azuryu, "The clans will be united. No South or North clans. Just one big one...,"

"How the hell do you expect us to unite two clans that have been trying to kill each other?!" Azuryu barked, his eye twitching, "I won't have it!"

"It's not up to you!" Evan pointed to the orb, "That is the spirit of your brother, and through me, he has told you the condition of saving Kuro's life. If you want to let him die, even after you've learned the truth...," he shook his head, "You're no different then Chaos Emperor,"

Azuryu glared daggers at him, "Insolent-,"

"We'll do it!" Shiryu chirped, "We'll do anything, just save him!" he glanced at his enraged brother, "He deserves a second chance...,"

After a few moments of silence, Azuryu nodded and turned away. With that, the soul orb entered the dragon's body and immediately, it began to glow.

"Jeez, not again!" Christina covered her eyes, "Should've brought shades!"

The light died away and a new, beautiful dragon stood proudly in Kuroryu's place. It was a large dragon, but it was very strange looking as well. One side had pure white scales and matching tail, while the other half had black scales and another tail.

The new dragon looked over himself, then looked at numerous bodies of dragons that littered the mountain, "So much bloodshed...so much pain...all because of one who wanted power over peace," it shook it's head slowly, "Not right...,"

Azuryu stepped towards the new dragon, "...brother Azushiryu, is that you?"

The dragon looked at the Blue-Eyes, "At one time, I was called that, and one point, I was also called Kuroryu...but no more do I carry either name,"

"Then what do we call you?" Evan asked, looking up at him.

"...I do not know, but for now, names do not matter," the dragon looked back to the cave den, "Aoiryu...,"

Azuryu and Shiryu both gasped, "Sister! We forgot about her!"

"Don't worry," Evan walked over to Felgrand, "She'll be fine. My healer friend is in there with her right now, tending to her, but...," he looked at the new dragon, "She may not recognize you right away, but she will be glad to see that you have returned,"

The dragon nodded, "Thanks to you, Lord Revastan. Perhaps in the future, we can have a duel like in the old days?"

Evan nodded, "I'd like that, but first," he looked over his shoulder, to the group of duelists behind him, "I believe some people are before you. What about it guys, still wanna duel?" he patted Felgrand on the back, "My friend here can carry all of you,"

The group turned from the dragons and huddled closely together.

"He took down a Chaos Emperor Dragon, should we still do it?"

"Why not? Jaden took down the Black Luster Soldier before, I'm sure one of us can take him on,"

"I'd really like to get this challenge over with and move to the next area, I think I've seen enough dragons to last a lifetime,"

"His dueling style does have me curious,"

"I'm all for it!"

"Same here, sounds like fun!"

"We got to if we want out of here, right?"

"Why are you dorks wondering if you should duel him? The Chazz is the one that'll clobber this guy!"

Alexis groaned, "So you've said...many times,".

They all looked at one another and after a few moments of silent debate, they all nodded and turned back around.

"Let's go!" Jaden smiled widely, "I can't wait to see this guy in a duel!"

Evan laughed and climbed onto Felgrand's back, "C'mon then, it's just a short flight to the Manor,"

As they climbed onto the dragon's back, Jaden felt something grab his leg. Slightly startled, he looked down to see Azuryu standing just below him, a large sack in his hand.

"What's up?"

Azuryu held up the sack, "Your friends forgot this back inside the cave, and Shiryu collected it before we came out. Also," he reached into the bag and pulled out a beautiful new duel disk, "You need a new one, if you wish to keep dueling, Jaden Yuki. This was once Azushiryu's before he died, but I think you need it more than him," he nodded to the new dragon as it lumbered into the cave.

Jaden stared at the disk as he took it from the Blue-Eyes' hand, "Wow...thanks, man," he slowly pulled it onto his arm and inserted his deck into it, "Thanks alot!"

"HEY! WAIT FOR ME, DAMMIT!"

Everyone looked back at the cave to see Noah running out of the cave, an annoyed look on his face.

Jaden reached out and helped him onto Felgrand's back, "Was wondering where you were...,"

"I got lost," Noah huffed, "...and I almost got left behind," he added, eye twitching.

"Chazz's idea!" Jordan said quickly.

"WHAT?!"

_BONK!_

Chazz doubled over, rubbing the lump on his head, "Ow!"

Noah dusted his hands, "Okay, I feel better now,"

-----

Back in the real world, Kairi sighed as she stared at the monitor.

"It's about damn time they met up with the Lord!" she glared at Kristerr, "You better not have made each journey to the rest as long as this one has, or I'm gonna pound you!"

Kristerr rubbed his eyes, "You do remember I'm filling in for Banner at school, right? Once summer vacation is over...,"

Kairi became silent and turned back to the monitor.

"Thought so," Kristerr leaned back in his chair, _I just hope that the others were wrong about what's happening in the game...otherwise, we're screwed!_

"Just so you know, though," Kairi looked at his reflection in the monitor, "The game's got some tiny plotholes in here, for the storyline,"

Kristerr glared at her, "It's my first video game, kid, cut me some slack!"

-----

In the dark room, the hacker watched the video of Jaden and the others as they approached Revastan Manor. Taking a drag of it's cigarette, the hacker grinned.

"I'll wait 'til they get there...then I'll make it permanent! Enjoy the duel, kids...because it's one of the last ones you'll ever see!"

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Kilnorc: Okay, I hope that chapter was enjoyable. Sorry if it seemed a bit lacking of details, but I've been under a bit of stress and I apologize if it was blah...but, I'll make up for it! Up next, the long awaited duel with the first Game Marshal! Hehehehe...**


	13. To Dethrone a Prince

**To Dethrone a Prince**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX**

**-----------------------------------------------------------------**

Revastan Manor was quite an impressive place. It was a large house near the base of Mount Dracon, on the other side of the mountain. It had at least four stories, was made of what appeared to be marble, or some other type of beautiful stone, and had numerous servants that went from here to there.

Evan maneuvered Felgrand to the ground and slid off the dragon while the others carefully made their way off the large reptile. One of the maids came and bowed to Evan, "Welcome home, milord, did your campaign go well?"

The newly revealed Lord nodded, "Yes, very well. This land won't have anymore problems from the Dragon clans. It has been stopped and the clans are united as one. Hopefully, we'll have peace instead of war around here," he patted Felgrand on the snout, "I'll be needing him again soon, so take care of him until then while I take my guests to the dueling chamber,"

The maid looked at the group, "Another challenge, milord? They don't look very strong...,"

Evan chuckled, "These people passed the rulers of Dracon Forest and had a hand in bringing the Clan War to an end. Besides, they've sought me out,"

"Well, actually, Jaden was the one who did the forest...," Christina pointed to her friend.

Siho nodded and pointed to Jordan and Bastion, "These guys, too!"

Chazz growled, "Who cares who did what, let's just get on with this already! I've been waiting forever to duel you, punk, so let's get on with it!"

Evan frowned, then turned and walked towards the mansion, "As you wish Chazz. Follow me, everyone. You want a duel with a Marshal, then you got one!"

-----

"Hee hee...this is great!" the hacker cackled, watching the duelists follow the Lord, "Just a little bit longer...only a little bit longer!"

Sticking another cigarette in it's mouth, the hacker pushed the wheeled chair away from the monitor towards a stack of disks and notebooks.

"Gotta find the party favor...,"

-----

"Wow, nice digs...,"

"No kidding,"

Jaden and the others had entered a large, round room that reminded them a lot of the duel arenas back at school, complete with a dueling platform, lights above them, and stands circling the entire perimeter with a large set of double doors on one end. Chazz and Evan had climbed onto the platform, each one having a calm look on their faces.

Evan no longer wore his cloak, but a full set of violet armor, complete with gauntlets, plated boots, and breastplate, a large symbol of a dragon carved into the plating. Needless to say, his wardrobe was impressive, if not intimidating.

"So, Chazz, you're about to get the chance to, and I quote, 'clobber the old geezer of a lord' in a duel," Evan held up a disk that resembled a dragon, "Still up for it?"

"Yeah!" Chazz held up his disk, "I've been waiting for this for a long time, so let's get on with it!"

"You ever hear patience is a virtue?" Evan shook his head and held up his disk arm, "Friends, lend me your power! I call upon you in this time of battle once again! Come to me!" he cried out.

Everyone watched in awe as what appeared to be dozens of small orbs of light flew into the dueling arena and circled Evan a few times before merging into his duel disk. When the last light disappeared, they saw that a deck of Duel Monster cards was now in his disk.

"My friends are here, ready to back me up," Evan smiled, "Come, Chazz, let's have a friendly game!"

"Shut up, and let's duel!"

**E: 4000  
C: 4000**

"Chazz, since you're so eager to duel, why not go first?" Evan asked calmly as they drew their hands, "I don't mind at all,"

Chazz grinned and drew his card, "Alright. First off, I summon V-Tiger Jet (1600/1800) in attack mode!" he declared as a mechanical tiger appeared above the ground in front of him, "I place one card facedown and I end my turn,"

"Alright," Evan drew his card, "First off, I play the Spell card known The Cheerful Coffin. This makes me send three Monster cards from my hand to the Graveyard," he paused and slipped the three cards into his Graveyard.

Siho frowned, _I know that card well...and usually, people use it for only one purpose. Why else would he empty half of his own hand?_

"I believe I'll summon Decoy Dragon (300/200) in defense mode, and end my turn," Evan said as an adorable baby dragon appeared on the field, it's big blue eyes staring up at Chazz's monster.

"AWWW!" Christina squealed, "So cute!"

Siho and Jaden slowly edged away from her.

"Feh, you call that a monster?" Chazz scoffed, "Please...I'll show you a monster!" he drew his next card, "I summon W-Wing Catapult (1300/1500) in attack mode, but he won't be staying long. I remove both my V-Tiger Jet and my W-Wing Catapult in order to summon VW-Tiger Catapult (2000/2100)!!"

One of Chazz's familiar Machine-Union monsters appeared on the field, hovering above the field, poised to strike as electrical arcs danced around it.

Evan tilted his head, "Nice monster...,"

"Thanks, but that's not all! By discarding one card from my hand, I can change the Battle Position of a monster on your field. So, by discarding Ojama Yellow (0/1000)," Chazz paused and slipped the mentioned monster into his Graveyard, "Your squirt of a dragon's switched to attack mode!"

Evan watched as Decoy Dragon came out from it's defensive curl, "That's...not good,"

"You're right about that!" Chazz pointed to the small dragon, "VW-Tiger Catapult, destroy Decoy Dragon with Heat Seeker Blitz!"

Evan watched calmly as VW-Tiger Catapult soared towards his dragon and let loose a volley of mortar blasts.

"I think not, Chazz, I activate my Dragon's special ability!"

"I KNEW IT!" Siho snapped aloud, startling the others around him.

Chazz frowned, "Special ability...?"

Evan nodded, "That's right! Decoy Dragon's ability allows me to select one Level 7 or higher Dragon-Type monster from my Graveyard and Special Summon it to the field, and then your monster's attack is directed to that!"

"But you don't have-," Chazz remembered The Cheerful Coffin from the last turn, "Great!"

"Indeed!" Evan's card popped out of the Graveyard slot and he slapped it onto the field, "I summon Darkblaze Dragon (1200/1000)!"

Everyone watched as a large dragon with black and orange scales appeared on the field. Chazz smirked at the monster's stats.

"What kind of strategy is that, Revastan?" he taunted, "My monster's still stronger! Continue your assault, VW-Tiger Catapult!"

Evan smirked as the mortars bombarded his dragon, covering the dueling platform with a thick cloud of smoke.

"Bye-bye, Darkblaze!" Chazz chuckled as the smoke cleared. He was surprised to not only see Darkblaze Dragon still on the field, but he watched as his Fusion Machine monster's remains fell to the ground into a metal heap.

"What the-?!" Chazz looked at Darkblaze and he saw why his monster was destroyed while the weaker one was still on the field.

Darkblaze Dragon (2400/2000)

"Hey, what gives!" he demanded, "How'd he get more points?!"

Evan smiled, "When Darkblaze Dragon is Special Summoned from the Graveyard, like he was with Decoy Dragon's ability, his attack and defense points are doubled, meaning that he had enough to destroy your VW-Tiger Catapult," he explained.

**E: 4000  
C: 3600**

"But that's not all, Chazz. My Darkblaze has another special ability. You see, when he destroys a monster in battle, and sends it to the Graveyard, you get dealt damage equal to your destroyed monster's attack points!"

**E: 4000  
C: 1600**

Jaden stared, "Whoa...,"

Bastion nodded slowly, "Impressive. He managed to wipe out Chazz's defensive with bait. I wonder what else Evan has to show him?"

Chazz looked at his hand and grit his teeth, "I end my turn,"

"Thanks, and don't worry, Chazz, I won't beat you...yet. I know what you're capable of, and out of mercy and sportmanship, I'll see how long we both can go," Evan drew his next card, "First, I play Pot of Greed, which lets me draw two more cards," he paused and drew the new cards, "Next, I play the Spell, Mystik Wok! By sacrificing my Darkblaze Dragon, I can gain points equal to either it's attack or defense points. Can you guess which one I choose?"

Chazz remained silent, glaring at him.

"Alright, since you won't...I'll sacrifice Darkblaze and gain points equal to his attack points!" Evan smiled as his dragon disappeared and his points went up, "That's some good stuff!"

**E: 6400  
C: 1600**

"Next up, I sacrifice my Decoy Dragon in order to summon White-Horned Dragon (2200/1400) in attack mode!" Evan stepped back as a large, red dragon with a glowing white horn in the middle of it's head appeared on the field, "I end my turn,"

_Little snot-nosed punk! He thinks he can beat the Chazz with dragons? Ha...wait until he gets a load of the dragons __**I**__ got on my side!_ Chazz drew his card and looked at his hand, "I play my own Pot of Greed!" he drew two new cards, "Next, I activate my facedown Trap card, Call of the Haunted to bring back my Ojama Yellow to the field!"

The ugly little bugger smiled widely as he came back, "Thanks, Boss, I knew you cared!"

"Shut up, you annoying parasite!" Chazz snapped at him, "Now, I sacrifice my Ojama Yellow to summon to the field, Armed Dragon LV5 (2400/1700) in attack mode!"

Ojama Yellow let out a sad yelp as he disappeared, the large red and black, spiked dragon taking his place.

Evan whistled, "Wow...an Armed Dragon," he nodded, appreciating the new blood, "Very nice, Chazz. Tell me something though...think you can take down my dragons with that?"

Chazz smirked, "Just wait and see," he inserted a card into his disk, "I now play the Spell card, Level Up! This card allows to bypass any and all summoning requirements. I just have to sacrifice any LV monsters on my field and from my hand or deck, I can summon the next form! So, I sacrifice my Armed Dragon LV5 in order to summon Armed Dragon LV7 (2800/1000)!"

Evan, as well as the rest of the group, tilted their heads back when the enormous dragon appeared on the field, the buzzsaw blades on it's body whirring to life. Evan couldn't help but smile and clap at the new monster.

"Bravo, Chazz! You have great taste in friends, I'll give you that,"

_What's with this kid_? Chazz frowned, _He's staring down one of my best monsters and laughing it off like Jaden does! Well, he may act like Jaden, but he won't win like Jaden!_

"That all, Chazz?"

"Not by a long shot!" Chazz looked at his hand, "I know Special Summon from my hand, the most powerful Dragon at my disposal!"

"Uh oh...,' Jaden looked at his friends, "Is he gonna bring out...?"

Everyone but Noah nodded in silence.

"I sacrifice my Armed Dragon LV7 in order to Special Summon from my hand, the almighty and all powerful...Armed Dragon LV10 (3000/2000)!" Chazz cried as his LV7 monster disappeared in a large whirlwind, and in it's place, was the ultimate form of Chazz's prized Dragon.

"Are you done yet?"

"Almost," Chazz inserted another card into his disk, "I play the Spell Premature Burial! By sacrificing 800 of my Life Points, I can bring back a monster from my Graveyard. So, making his comeback is the Armed Dragon LV5!"

Chazz's smaller Armed Dragon appeared next to the big one, it's own buzz saws whirring as Chazz's Life Points went down further.

**E: 6400  
C: 800**

"Next, I activate my Armed Dragon LV10's ability! By discarding one, or in this case, the last card in my hand, all the monster on your side of the field are destroyed!"

Evan held up an arm as his White-Horned Dragon was blown to pieces, leaving him wide open, "Not bad!"

"Armed Dragon LV5, attack with Inferno Roar!"

The walls of the arena shook violently, making dust and small chunks of rock falls from the ceiling as an ear-splitting roar filled the air. Evan even had to cover his ears as the attack surrounded him.

**E: 4000  
C: 800**

"Now, Armed Dragon LV10, attack!"

Evan suffered another, more violent direct attack from one of Chazz's dragon, his Life Points severely damaged.

**E: 1000  
C: 800**

On the sidelines, everyone cheered for Chazz's comeback against the so-called Lord. Everyone except for Khamille, who was chewing on her thumbnail, looking at the duel intently.

_Evan's not that easy, Chazz...trust me, I know!_

"Your turn, Revastan," Chazz grinned smugly, "Try and beat that!"

"Very well," Evan drew his card, "First, I play the Spell, Card of Sanctity! With this, we both draw until we have six cards in our hands,"

"Heh," Chazz drew the new batch of cards, "Thanks for the hand, Evan...let's hope that it doesn't come back to haunt you,"

"We'll see," Evan held up a card, "I play Brain Control! By giving up 800 Life Points, I can gain control of one of your monsters. Like say...oh, I don't know...Armed Dragon LV10!"

**E: 200  
C: 800**

"Next, I summon a very good friend of mine to the field, Baby Dragon (1200/700) in attack mode," he paused and looked fondly at the small dragon on his field, "Welcome to the fun, Drake!" he greeted the small dragon, who chirped happily at the sight of his friend, then cringed at the sight of the Armed Dragon LV10.

"I place one card facedown, and then I attack Armed Dragon LV5 with Armed Dragon LV10!"

**E: 200  
C: 200**

"I end my turn," Evan finished as Chazz's stolen monster returned to his side of the field, "Thanks for letting me borrow him, Chazz, he was most helpful,"

Chazz glared daggers at him as he drew his card. With seven cards in his hand, he discarded one and pointed at the Baby Dragon, "Armed Dragon LV10...,"

"Chazz, don't do it!" Khamille yelled from the sidelines.

"...attack Baby Dragon...,"

"CHAZZ, DO NOT ATTACK!"

"...now!"

Khamille cursed under her breath and took a seat as Armed Dragon roared and swiped his massive claws towards Baby Dragon.

Chazz laughed, "You go bye-bye!"

As the Armed Dragon's attack neared, a small smile crossed Evan's face.

"Sucker...," Evan pressed a button on his disk, "I activate my face-down Trap card, Justi-Break!"

Chazz stopped laughing at once, "Huh?!"

"You're too cocky, Chazz," Evan looked up and watched as Armed Dragon LV10's attack not only stopped, but the huge dragon exploded in a giant cloud of smoke, "My Trap card activates when my opponent attacks a Normal monster, such as Baby Dragon here, and every single monster on the field that's not a Normal Monster in attack position, gets destroyed,"

"W-What?!" Chazz's jaw dropped, "My Armed Dragon...,"

"...has gone bye-bye," Evan finished, "I think I'll finish this now. Drake, attack Chazz directly right now and show him the power of true dragons!"

-----

Outside in the real world, the hacker watched in great anticipation as the duel wound to a close. Sticking the cigarette between licked lips, the hacker's fingertips flew across the keyboard.

"Fun time...now!" the hacker laughed gleefully, punching the ENTER key on the keyboard.

-----

Chazz backed away as the Baby Dragon now hovered directly in front of him, smoke rising from within his jaws. The Baby Dragon opened his mouth and fired a torrent of flame that covered Chazz's form entirely, the duelist's screams filling the air.

**E: 200  
C: 0**

Khamille shook her head, "I warned him...Evan's combo never fails him,"

Jaden turned to her, "Wait, how'd you know he'd do that?"

-----

"And Chazz is the first one to go," Kairi shook her head, "That's pathetic for him...he took down a Shadow Rider and he gets his ass handed to him in a virtual game...must be all the bad karma," she hopped up from her seat and walked over to Chazz's VR tube, tapping on it, "Alright, Chazzy, get your butt outta there,"

Kristerr stared intently at the screen, "C'mon...please let it not be in effect now," he whispered.

"Chazz...," Kairi tapped on the glass again before turning to the technicians, "Hey, how long does it take for him to come back?"

One of the technicians walked over and checked Chazz's tube, "This is odd,"

"What is?"

The technician shook her head, "He should've been out by now, but the tube's on lockdown. Must be a glitch,"

"**Oh, nice guess, but that is so wrong!"** a distorted voice laughed, startling them.

Everyone looked around the room, confused looks on their faces. Kristerr had a look of anger on his face.

"Guys...what's going on?" Kairi asked slowly, "Is this part of the game?"

"**It is now, my young friend,"** the distorted voice chuckled, **"You see, I've made some modifications to this wonderful game your friends have been playing, I hope you don't mind,"**

Kristerr clenched his fists and looked around, "Who are you and what do you want?!" he shouted, face going red.

"**Who I am is not important, but what I want? I think that's another story for another time. Right now, I think you should worry about your friend,"**

-----

As the smoke cleared, everyone left the sidelines to go and try to get Chazz to feel better about his defeat, but when they arrived at the platform, they saw that Chazz was no where to be found.

"Where'd he go?" Jaden looked around the arena, "Chazz, where are you?"

"Yeah, c'mon, Chazz! We don't care that you got your ass handed to you by a dragon runt!" Siho yelled, laughing between words, "Come out of hiding!"

Christina looked around as well and saw that Noah was leaning against the platform, a strange look in his eyes.

"Dude, you alright?"

Noah gulped, "Your friend's not here, Jaden...he's not here at all,"

"What do you mean?" Alexis asked him, "How do you know that?"

"If he's not here, then he must be back where we came from!" Jordan waved them off, "Don't worry guys, those were the rules, right?"

Noah shook his head and turned to them, "You don't get it! This game is not the game you guys entered to test and have a fun time!"

"How did-," Jaden started to ask but was cut off by Noah's hand.

"I'll explain later, but right now, you gotta know that your friend is not here, and that you guys are in _serious_ trouble!"

-----

"Hey Boss! Boss, wake up!"

"Maybe we need to splash some water on him?"

"Knucklehead, where are we gonna get that in a place like this?!"

Chazz groaned and opened his eyes, quickly covering them when they met with an intense bright light.

"Geez! You idiots mind turning down the headlights?! I lost and the first thing I don't need is to be blinded!"

"Uh...Boss?"

Chazz sat up and let his eyes adjust to the light. As his vision cleared, he saw that he wasn't in Revastan Manor anymore. In fact, he wasn't in any area that he could recognize. He was in a huge, barren desert with the hot sun bearing down on him while his there Ojamas hovered around his head.

"Where...am...I?"

**------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Kilnorc: DUN DUN DUN! Chazz lost against the first Game Marshal and now, some messed up stuff is happening! What is going on?! Stay tuned to find out, because there are some major mysteries going on here! BTW, regarding the title, which prince could it mean? Prince of Dragons (Evan) or Prince of Annoyances (Chazz)? Think about it -nods- it could blow ya mind away!**


	14. Airstrike

**Airstrike**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX**

**-----------------------------------------------------------------**

Kristerr Tong sat in an empty chair, his head in his hands while everyone else around him ran back and forth, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Kairi had left the tube problems, as well as the system check to the technicians and walked over to the young man.

"You okay, man?"

"Some ass messes with the game, Chazz is nowhere to be seen and they can't get out!" Kristerr looked up at her, "Re-think that question, kid,"

Kairi frowned, "Hey, you aren't the only one upset here, pal!" she pointed to the tubes, "Those guys are the only real friends I've had in my life and now they're in trouble!"

"Well, my baby sister is in there and I'm responsible for all of them!" Kristerr snapped.

Both of them glared at each other for a few moments before Kristerr turned away, sighing.

"Sorry, Kairi...just a little worked up,"

"No kidding," Kairi leaned against a nearby console, "Any ideas on how to get them out?"

Kristerr slowly shook his head, "Only way that could work is if they beat the game,"

"Really?"

"I don't know! Normally, yes, but with this asshole screwing with the game, who knows what they'd have to do, and who knows what rules have been changed!"

Kairi crossed her arms and looked back at the tubes containing her friends, _Hope you guys are okay..._

-----

"What exactly is going on, Noah?" Jaden demanded, "Where's Chazz?"

The young man shook his head, "I do not know, Jaden, which is odd, considering when it comes to knowing things in this world, I know a lot, but this...this is new to me,"

Alexis turned to see Evan walking up to them, "Hey, Revastan, where's Chazz?"

Evan shrugged, "I do not know, Alexis. This is a first for me. I've dueled countless people before, but they've never disappeared on me like this. Your guess is as good as mine,"

"Well, what the hell do we do now?" Christina put her arms behind her head, "Chazz lost, is missing and we got no clue where he is,"

The group was silent for a few moments before Siho raised a hand, "I say we keep going. If we keep traveling to the other Marshals, we should cover a lot of area, and if we're lucky, we'll find Chazz,"

"Don't you mean 'If we're unlucky, we'll find Chazz'?" Jordan asked, earning a light smack upside the head from his cousin.

"Sounds like the best thing to do," Khamille murmured and turned to Evan, "Who is the nearest Marshal?"

Evan looked at her, "Her name is Kotako Tatsuhira. You remember that fork in the road we came by before entering Dracon Forest?"

"Uh-huh?"

"That road takes you to her region. I gotta warn you though, it's a tough journey, and I get the feeling that you'll have a hard one before you,"

Jaden sighed, "We gotta go through the Forest again!"

Evan smiled, "Not necessarily, Jaden. I can lend you the services of some of my friends to give you a lift to the border of my realm," he placed two fingers in his mouth and let out a sharp whistle.

Christina picked her ear, "Dang, man...what was that for?!"

"You want transports, right?" Evan pointed up and everyone looked up to see the ceiling was now splitting open and a small number of dragons flew into the arena, "These guys will carry you to where you need to go," he explained as the dragons landed and the group began to climb onto their backs, "I hope you guys find your friend, and I wish you well on your journey,"

Jaden nodded and kicked the sides of his dragon, "Giddyup,"

One by one, the dragons flapped their wings, taking off from the ground and moving higher into the air.

"Thanks, Evan!" Jaden waved goodbye, "See ya around!"

Evan raised his arm and waved back at him. Khamille kept her eyes locked onto his as long as she could before her dragon flew after the others into the sky. Evan lowered his arm, "Well, brother?"

A figure in the shadows chuckled, "That was a very interesting duel, Evan. Still, I wonder where their friend went?"

"I don't know," Evan reached into his sleeve and pulled out Chazz's Armed Dragon cards, "But he'll be wanting these back when he finds out they're gone," he murmured as the cards glowed a bright light and disappeared, "Oh well, they're in _her _hands now," he turned and faced the figure, "Just gotta wait, eh?"

-----

"Oh, it's about time!"

Chazz, closely followed by his Ojamas, ran towards and took refuge under a large tree, the only thing that provided shade in the desert that they had seen. The duelist leaned against the tree and wiped his brow, "Man, for a VR game, they make things as real as possible," he glanced at the three monsters nearby, "Unfortunately for me...,"

Ojama Yellow shook his money maker as he hovered around Chazz's head, "Aw, c'mon, Boss, we know you love having us around!"

Green nodded, "Dat's right! We're a team!"

Black smirked, "Got that right, Knucklehead!"

"WILL YOU THREE JUST LEAVE ME ALONE?!" Chazz shouted, taking a swipe at them. A rustling sound made Chazz look down to see all his Duel Monster cards laid out on the sand.

"Aw, great," Chazz bent down and collected them, but as he did, he noticed that he wasn't playing with a full deck anymore, "Wait a second, where are my dragons? They should be here!" he fanned out his deck to double-check, but could not find his faithful Armed Dragons, "What is going on here?!"

-----

"Alright, just what the heck is going on here, why'd we leave Evan's place so fast?" Jordan asked his friends as they flew over the land, "Something's going on here!"

"Yeah, no kidding," Siho turned to Khamille, "You mind telling us what happened back there, Tong?"

Khamille kept her eyes forward, "Chazz lost the duel, that's what happened, or were you not paying attention?"

Siho frowned, "I'm talking about how you knew Evan would play that combo that beat Chazz's Armed Dragons,"

"Hey, that's right," Jaden looked at her, "You said that combo of his never fails, but we've never played this before, so how'd you know?"

Soon, everyone else's eyes were on her, and Khamille lowered her head, sighing.

"I knew he was gonna do that because I created Evan,"

Siho blinked and leaned closer, or as close as he could without falling, "Excuse us? Mind repeating that?"

"Yeah, please do," Alexis agreed, "What do you mean, you created Evan?"

Khamille pulled on her dragon's reins, making the reptile stop, and the others followed suit. She looked at all them, "Okay, you all, except Noah, of course...you all know what it was like for me back at Duel Academy, right?"

"You had to lie to get in and pretend to be a dude because your mom didn't want you dueling," Christina nodded, "How could we forget, you and Kristerr tagged with Chazz and his pain in the ass brother,"

"Well," Khamille ran a hand through her hair, "Before I entered Duel Academy, and when I wasn't dueling in secret, I messed around with new decks and strategies in my spare time. Since I had access to a bunch of cards, I figured I could try some things out without messing with my own deck. In the end, I made eight decks with some real power behind them,"

"How does Evan fit into this?" Jaden asked her.

Khamille held up a finger, "I'm just getting to that part. After making the decks, I figured I'd just screw around and make eight duelists, one for each of the decks I made. Evan and his Dragons are one of the duelists I made,"

"So, the other seven Game Marshals in this game are of your creation," Bastion realized, "Why didn't you tell us this when we first met with Evan?"

"Hey, it has been a long time since I messed around with all that, and I didn't remember Evan until the duel," she cursed under her breath as her dragon snorted, "Can't believe Kristerr used my people for a game without asking my permission, or at least telling me!"

Jaden grinned, "Hey, it's no big! I mean, think about it guys. If Khamille made these guys and their decks, than we know what they can do in duels and if we know what that can do in duels-,"

"Then we can prepare ourselves," Bastion finished, "Jaden, this is a rare moment for you,"

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing," Bastion turned to Khamille, "Tell us, Khamille. Since you know what these creations of yours can do, can you tell us what kind of deck the next Game Marshal has at her disposal?"

Khamille shrugged, shaking her head, "Not right now. As I said, it's been a long time, and I didn't remember Evan right away, so even if I remembered something, it could be the wrong deck,"

Bastion nodded, "Luck favors the prepared, but bad luck falls upon those who are not prepared,"

"I swear, you make those up," Siho muttered as he looked around, "Hey, guys? I think we should get going...,"

"How come? Anxious to get to the next duel?" Jordan asked, grinning, "Or because you know the next Marshal is a chick?"

Siho shook his head and pointed in the direction he was staring at, "Because of _that_,"

Everyone turned to the direction their friend was pointing in and they watched as a large group of metal airships flew through the air...right towards them.

"What the heck are they?" Jaden asked, squinting.

Noah stared ahead, "They're part of the Gradius Air Force, but this isn't their region, what are they doing in the Dragon Region?"

"Gradius?" Jordan squinted as well to get a better look, "Looks like they're ready for a fight, because they've got Cyclon Lasers equipped to them,"

"Noah, are any other regions at war?" Alexis asked, eyes not leaving the sight of the jet fighters.

The young man shook his head, "Not to my knowledge, Alexis...something's wrong,"

Siho nodded, "Very wrong. I think we should go before-," he was cut off as a beam of intense energy shot past them all, nearly grazing half of their dragons.

"RETREAT! RETREAT!" Christina screamed, kicking her dragon hard, "LET'S GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"

No one argued as more and more of the Gradius' opened fire on them. Soon, all of them were racing across the sky, trying to outrun and dodge the attackers.

Noah grit his teeth as another beam fired over his head, _This isn't right! Someone's tampered with this world, it's all wrong! I gotta get them out of here before something very bad happens!_

An explosion, followed by both a roar and a scream ripped through the air and Noah snapped his head around to see that Christina's dragon had been hit and now she and her ride were falling at a fast rate towards the ground below.

"Christina!" Siho screamed as he watched his best friend fall, "Hang on!" he tugged on the reins of his ride, hoping to swerve to the side and catch her, but another blast made him back away, "Dammit!"

"I got her!" Bastion's dragon dove downward, speeding towards his friend.

Another blast whizzed by them and Jaden could actually smell burnt hair. He noticed that part of his hair was singed off, "Uh guys...we really gotta lose them!"

"No kidding!" Jordan shouted as he ducked another round, "If _anyone_ has any ideas, now is a _very_ good time for them!"

Once again, a roar filled the air and everyone looked down to see Bastion's dragon falling out of the sky as well.

"Bastion! Christina!" Jaden wrapped his reins around his hands, ready to turn back for them, but Siho came to his side.

"Keep going, Jaden!"

"But they-,"

Siho shook his head, "They'll be fine! Chrissy's strong and Bastion's a nerd, they'll get by just fine, but right now, we gotta lose these asses," he jerked a thumb to the Gradius', "NOW!"

Jaden looked straight at him for a few moments, but nodded, "Right!" he kicked his dragon, "C'mon boy, go higher! We'll try to lose them in the clouds!"

His dragon growled and began to climb into the air, followed by the other remaining dragons. Siho took one last look at the trails of smoke, which were now far behind and below them.

_Good luck you two..._

-----

While the others were flying for their lives, Bastion and Christina were recovering from their ordeals. The two duelists, after a rough landing and a quick check of themselves, now stood in front of their dead dragon escorts.

"Well, we seem to be without a mode of transportation, our friends are in dire trouble, and we seem to be lost," Bastion sighed and shook his head, "It does not bode well, Christina,"

Christina scoffed, "Yeah, no kidding," she looked down at her disk, then at Bastion's, "Well, the equipment seems to be in good shape, and our decks are still with us. I guess all we have to do now is walk,"

"Walk?" Bastion repeated, "Christina, no offense, but with no map or any bearings whatsoever, we could be wandering around here for a long time!"

"Yeah...," Christina nodded, "But it's no big deal...I mean, c'mon, Bastion, it's just a game! When it's time for us to leave or if we need to leave or need help, we let the guys outside know and...," she snapped her fingers, "Problem solved, just like that!"

Bastion was taken back, "Oh, right, of course," he looked around, "This place is so real, it threw me off for a bit,"

"Eh, don't let it get to ya," she slugged him in the shoulder, "Now, c'mon, let's try and find a way outta this place," she looked around the area, "I'm getting a bad vibe,"

"Why don't we just contact them now?"

"What, and explore this place?" Christina smiled and began to walk in a random direction, "Think about it, Bast, if this place is anything like Dracon Forest, we'll get to duel and get some of our own treasure! Who knows, maybe we'll get some good cards to use,"

Bastion sweatdropped, "Does anything get you down, Christina?"

"Not many things, and not very often, now c'mon Bastion! Adventure's calling!"

"Well, tell it to leave a message after the beep,"

"Did you just make a joke? Wow, I'm impressed,"

"At what?"

"Nothing,"

-----

Not too far away, a figure ran through the woods, leaping over logs and jumping off rocks. This hunter had a mission, a mission that it wasn't going to pass up, especially at the prize that awaited. It knew it's targets: any of the remaining seven challengers that came to duel the Marshals.

Lady Kotako received word of these challengers from Lord Revastan and as soon as a reward for finding any of the challengers and bring them to her was mentioned, the hunter signed up immediately. Now, the hunter was on the trail of two of the remaining seven, thanks to the unusual arrival by the Gradius Air Force. It was just a matter of time, now.

------

In the real world, the hacker cracked it's knuckles and watched the different images as the unfortunate duelists went about their troubles. The hacker's eyes locked on the hunter and smiled, "One of my own personal creations. Of course, had to make programmed so it'd be 'one of the normal sprites', but it was worth it to try her out without anyone detecting me. If they had, this would've been a huge waste of time,"

After a few moments of staring at the sprite, the hacker leaned back and went back to screen gazing the others. When Khamille and Chazz, who was still lost in the desert, entered line of sight, the hacker reached into a drawer and pulled out a dueling magazine.

"I know those two...," the figure murmured, leafing through the magazine pages. When it came to one page, a smile appeared on it's face, "Khamille May Tong and Chazz Princeton...their families are some of the most wealthy ones out there,"

A loud laugh filled the dark room.

"Oh man! Show them payback by hacking into the game and I end up holding two rich kids hostage! This is priceless, absolutely pricless!"

-----

After finally losing the Gradius' and finding a safe place to land, Jaden and the others found themselves on the ground once again. Some of them were shaken up about the attack and the loss of their two friends, but right now, there was nothing they could do.

Noah punched a nearby tree, "Cannot believe this! The game is not supposed to play out like this!"

"How do you know this is just a game, Noah?" Alexis inquired, walking up to him, "How did you know we're here to play?"

The man with turquoise hair sighed, "It's a very long story, guys, and I don't think now is the best time for it," he scratched his head, "C'mon, I know where the next Game Marshal is from here, I'll take you to her. If we're lucky, she'll send some of her people out to look for Christina and Bastion,"

As he took the lead, the group of kids watched him walk off.

"He's hiding something," Alexis whispered, "How do we know he's a good guy, or if he's not a Game Marshal?"

Jaden shrugged, "I don't know, but we gotta trust him,"

"Why the hell should we?" Jordan hissed, earning a light smack upside the head from Alexis, "What's he done for us that should get us to trust him!?"

"What has he done to make us think he can't be trusted?" Jaden shot back, "Look, we need to fight the Marshals, find Chrissy and Bastion, and this guy knows more about this world than any of us here! We have no choice!"

The group stared at one another while Noah came to a stop a few yards away.

"You guys may want to hurry up!" he called out, "Time, while not linked to the outside world, is still present in this world, and you do not want to be out here during the night,"

As if on cue, a loud howl ripped through the air, making about half of the group jump out of their skins. Not wanting to be left behind, they quickly caught up with their mysterious guide.

**-----------------------------------------------------------------**

**Kilnorc: Well, this isn't good! One friend's missing, two more are lost...what else could happen to our group of heroes? Stay tuned to find out!**


	15. Council of Eight

**Council of Eight**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX**

* * *

"Man, oh man, we're so screwed!" Kristerr ran a hand through his hair, "We gotta get this thing settled as soon as possible, or we're gonna be in big time trouble!"

Kairi chewed a thumbnail, "More than we already are?"

Before Kristerr could reply, one of the technicians shot up from her seat. She waved at the two of them.

"Mr Tong, sir! You should take a look at this!"

"God, what now?!" Kristerr stomped over, followed closely by Kairi, "What is it?"

The female tech pointed to her computer monitor, "This isn't part of the game, but...,"

Kristerr leaned forward and stared at the screen, "What the hell?"

* * *

Evan Revastan, the Dragon Prince Game Marshal took a seat in a large chair in front of a large, round table. He looked around and saw seven other people in different colored armor already sitting there, waiting for him. Half of their faces were hidden in shadow, all that could be seen was the lower halves of their heads.

One of which, a young man in golden armor smiled at him, "Hello Evan, glad you could make it,"

"Dunno why you sent me that message after you left, I could've come with you," Evan muttered, "Why did we come here, everyone?"

Jake chuckled, "Every one of us now knows of the challengers, Evan. In fact, Kotako's sent a hunter after a couple of them,"

"You summoned me here to tell me what Kotako's doing?" Evan rose from his seat, "I just wasted a ride on Felgrand,"

"Evan, sit down!"

Evan turned to look at another young man in armor sitting directly in front of him. This one wore red armor and wore a scowl on his face.

"Jett-,"

"Sit down, Evan. Sit down and tell us what you know about these challengers so we all know what we're up against,"

"Didn't Jake tell you?"

The one in red shook his head, "I want you to tell us,"

Evan took a breath and told them everything he knew about this group of strangers. How they braved the Temple of Horus, Dracon Forest, and how they even prevailed in a duel against the remaining Blue Eyes White Dragon brothers.

"So, these kids are not like the rest of our people," the one called Jett thought aloud, "We have reports that they're on their way to Sogen Valley to challenge Kotako," he glanced at a young woman in silver armor who sat next to Jake, "You're in for a fight if they get past the hunter,"

The woman chuckled and brushed a lock of hair over her shoulder, "They'll get by her, no doubt. Does this mean I'll get to take on the remaining seven?"

A glint of light from nearby was seen before another girl's voice was heard. This one came from the person wearing green armor.

"Kotako, my good friend, do not be selfish. Jake got one, so I suggest that we all take one for ourselves, just to make it fair,"

"Midori, you're such an EFFing buzzkiller,"

A chuckle from the shadows was heard as another female, this one in dark, purplish armor drummed the table.

"Kotako, just deal with it...and don't take the cute ones again, alright? Save some for me and Midori for once,"

"It's not my fault that we're strong, Sonja! I can't help it I take down my challengers, even if they are cute! Now," she calmed down a little and looked at Evan, "Which one of these kids uses warriors?"

Evan shrugged, "My guess would be the one called Christina. I've seen some of the other's cards in action, and I sensed she's strong and has a will like yours, Kotako,"

"Ha! Finally, a female opponent! About time! Looks like you don't have to worry about losing a potential boyfriend, Midori. You too, Sonja,"

A figure in black armor threw a collection of photographs onto the table, "These are what they look like, everyone. Take your pick,"

"Don't mind if we do, Damien," a figure in blue armor said as he reached out and grabbed Alexis' picture. He whistled, "Man, they get hotter everytime!"

Damien rolled his eyes and swiped the picture away, "They're opponents, Erik, not potential girlfriends!"

"Hey, that's not fair! Midori and Sonja want boyfriends for opponents, why can't I get a hot chick!"

"WE DO NOT!" Midori and Sonja shouted at him, "Shut up, you EFFing pervert!"

Jake cleared his throat and held up Jaden's picture, "So far, this is the strongest duelist in their group. I've seen him take strong opponents that usually take out a lot of normal duelists...beware of him,"

"Him?" Jett raised an eyebrow, "He looks as dumb as a post!"

Evan pointed to Jake, "So does Jake, but look how strong he is!"

"Watch it, little brother!"

Jake stuck out his tongue, only to get smacked upside the head by Damien, "OW!"

"Enough bickering, you two. We have strong challengers for once and you're wasting energy arguing amongst yourselves.

Midori took Bastion's picture and when she looked at it, she felt a blush cross her face.

Sonja noticed the blush on her friends cheeks and snatched the picture away, "Hey guys! Midori's got a crush on this one!" she shouted, waving Bastion's picture.

Erik walked around and grabbed Bastion's picture, staring at it for a bit. Moments after, he patted Midori on the shoulder, "He looks handsome and smart, a good man for you, Midori. You have my approval, big sister!"

"Erik!" Midori cried, taking the picture back and throwing it back on the table, "I do not have a crush...," she muttered, turning away.

"Jake, here's a good opponent for you," Evan handed his older brother Siho's photograph, "He's a perfect match!"

Jake took the picture and looked at it closely, rubbing his chin, "Why is that? Is he strong?"

"Not sure,"

"Is he dumb?"

"A tad,"

"Then how is this a perfect match?"

"He's a total perv, just like you, big brother!"

Jake fell out of his seat, earning laughs from his fellow Game Marshals. As he climbed back into his seat, Damien shook his head, rubbing his temple with a gloved hand.

"This will be an interesting set of events...," he looked down at Jaden's picture, "I'd love to see your strength, boy,"

* * *

In the real world, Kairi and Kristerr stood in front of the monitor, having watched the whole meeting between Game Marshals. The older male Tong pointed at what he was seeing, "What...the hell is this?! Are you sure this wasn't programmed in the game?!"

"Very sure, sir!" the technician swore, "We triple-checked everything before the test!"

"Must be the hacker," Kairi scratched a cheek, glancing at her immobile friends in the tubes nearby, "It looks like he's altered the game for some reason,"

Kristerr growled, "That bastard holds my sister hostage and changes the game to fit his mind...this guy is so toast when we get him!"

"Whoever he is, he's good," Kairi looked back at the screen, "I think he watches too much Perfect Hair Forever, too,"

"Oh shut the EFF up, Kairi, I'm trying to think,"

* * *

**Kilnorc: Sorry for the wait guys. I've had some trouble with this fic lately, and that's why I haven't updated in a while. I'm trying to overcome, don't ask what it is, but until I fully get back into this, be patient. Hope this small filler has satisfied your thirst for GX for now. I had this idea thanks to a close friend of mine and she said it's like LittleKuriboh's creation of Marik's Council of Doom videos, so I figured, what the hell, make a ref to that? It's pretty much a random thing to hold you fans over. Don't worry, when I get back to this for real, duels and more action will come!**


	16. Blazing Blitzkrieg

**Blazing Blitzkrieg**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX**

* * *

"You know, I can't help but wonder how long it usually takes to make a VR world, especially this one?" Christina wondered aloud, looking around the forest, "This place looks awesome,"

"Well, if you apply the basic techniques of computer programming-,"

"Bastion?"

"Yes?"

"Shaddup,"

Bastion sighed, "Why do you ask questions if you don't want answers?"

"I don't want long and boring answers," Christina explained as they walked through the woods, "I wonder where this next Game Marshal is? If it's anything like the last one, there should be some kind of civilization around here. The others are probably there right now, looking for us,"

"I don't know about the others, but _I_ was looking for you,"

Both Bastion and Christina came to a stop at the sound of the new voice. Looking ahead, they saw a young woman wearing a duel disk standing the middle of the path. The woman had short, black hair, large violet eyes, and wore torn pants and shirt, as well as a large brown traveling cloak around her shoulders.

"Hey!" Christina waved at her, "Finally, we came across somebody. Listen, my friend and I are lost, could you...," she trailed off and became quiet when the woman held out her arm and activated her duel disk, "Oh, you have _got_ to be kidding me,"

"My name is Celeste, a huntress under the employ of Lady Kotako to track down the group of challengers who wander this land, seeking duels with the Marshals," the woman said in an even tone, eyes staring right at the two of them.

Christina clicked her tongue and turned to Bastion, "Okay, we get lost in the woods and after Chazz lost to Evan, we got a price on our heads?"

"Certainly seems like it," Bastion said thoughtfully, looking back at the woman, "Any ideas?"

"Yeah, one," Christina turned back around, walked forward and activated her own duel disk, "Only way you're taking us if you beat me! If I win, you give up the hunting and you take us to Lady Kotako!"

Bastion sweatdropped, _Either way, we go with her to the next one, Christina..._

Celeste smiled as they drew their hands, their Life Point counters going up, "Alright, girl, sounds like a plan,"

"LET'S DUEL!" the two females cried at once.

**Ce: 4000  
Ch: 4000**

"My draw first," Celeste drew her card, "I summon Volcanic Blaster (1200/600) in attack mode, and I place two cards facedown on the field, ending my turn," she said as a strange, green, mechanical monster appeared on the field.

Christina stared at the monster, "That's one I've never seen before," she grinned and drew her card, "This'll be interesting. I place two cards facedown on the field, and I summon Amazoness Chain Master (1500/1300) in attack mode!"

A strong-looking woman wielding what appeared to be a golden chain with a spiked fork on the end of it appeared on the field, spinning the chain around.

"Chain Master, attack Blaster!" she ordered, "Whip 'im good!"

"Hold on, I activate my Trap!" Celeste pressed a button on her disk, "Solemn Wishes!"

Christina frowned, "Solemn Wishes...,"

Celeste nodded, "Now, everytime I draw from my deck, I gain 500 Life Points!"

The Amazoness let out a battle cry as she tossed her chain, which wrapped itself around Blaster. Chain Master gave a sharp tug and the enemy monster blew up in a fiery blast.

**Ce: 3700  
Ch: 4000**

"Booya!"

Celeste smiled, "Thanks for that, because Blaster's ability activates," she took out and fanned her deck, "I can take one Volcanic monster from my deck and add it to the top of my deck," she took one card and slapped it on the top, "Which means next turn, I get this puppy,"

"Well, I don't want to keep you waiting," Christina nodded to her, "I end my turn,"

Bastion watched from behind Christina, arms folded over his chest, _This woman's deck is something brand new to the both of us...I wonder what it contains?_

Celeste drew her card, "Yep, there it is," she looked up at Chrissy, "I summon Volcanic Rocket (1900/1400) in attack mode!"

**Ce: 4200  
Ch: 4000**

Christina and Bastion watched as a large, skeletal creature that resembled some kind of a dinosaur appeared on the field, wreathed in red and orange flames.

"When this card is successfully summoned, I can add one Blaze Accelerator from my deck to my hand," she paused and plucked out the mentioned card and slipped it into her hand, "I now activate Blaze Accelerator!" Celeste declared as a large, gun-like apparatus appeared on the field, "By sending a Pyro-type monster from my hand, whose points are 500 or less, to the Graveyard, you get dealt 500 points of direct damage!" she shrugged, "Of course, this means I can't attack you the same turn, but I think it's worth it,"

_Well, at least I won't lose my monster..._ Christina thought.

"Volcanic Rocket...," Celeste pointed right at Christina, "...attack her Chain Master!"

_What?!_ Christina held up an arm as her Amazoness was destroyed, the flames dancing around her, "I thought you said you can't attack this turn!"

Celeste wagged a finger, "That's if I use Blaze Accelerator's effect this turn. That Spell card is continuous, so I can use it whenever I want. Right now, I wanted to clear your field,"

**Ce: 4200  
Ch: 3600**

"Well, you may have destroyed Chain Master, but I got this!" Christina's facedown turned upward, "Activate Pride of Tribe!"

Celeste raised an eyebrow, "Huh?"

"Whenever one of my Amazons are destroyed, I can Special Summon any monster from my deck, as long as it has Amazoness in it's name," Christina fanned out her deck, snagged a card and slapped it on the field, "I summon Amazoness Tiger (1100/1500) in attack mode!"

A large, reddish colored tiger with a large scar of it's right eye appeared on the field with a roar.

"That's not all, I activate my other Trap," Christina pressed another button, "Call of the Haunted! With this Trap, I can bring back a monster from my Graveyard and I choose Amazoness Chain Master!"

Christina's once dead Amazon came back to the field.

"Before you finish your turn, I should mention that Tiger's got an effect! For every monster I have that has Amazoness in it's name, she gains 400 extra attack points. So, including herself and Chain Master, that's a total of 800 points!"

Amazoness Tiger (1900/1500)  
Amazoness Chain Master (1500/1300)

Celeste growled, "May I finish _now_?" she asked, a bit irritated.

"Yeah, sure, knock yourself out,"

Celeste looked at her hand, "I end my turn...,"

* * *

"Hey, Boss, looky!"

Chazz came to a stop, tired, hot, and thirsty, which was an interesting feat to pull off with virtual reality. He turned his head to see Ojama Yellow pointing at something. Following the annoying spirit's finger, Chazz's face soon turned from one filled with misery, to one of utter joy.

"FINALLY A TOWN!" Chazz laughed, half-crazed from his journey in the desert, and began to run towards the buildings off in the distance, his three Ojamas chasing after him.

"Wait up, Boss!"

"Yeah, wait for us!"

As he entered the sandy village, the first thing Chazz saw was a large water fountain. Without thinking, he ran over and dunked his head in it. As he let his head soak, his Ojamas hovered over him.

"Does video game water help video game heat?"

"I dunno, nyuk nyuk, I never played,"

After what seemed like forever, Chazz brought his head out from under the water, gasping for air, his black hair soaking wet.

"Well, I must admit, I never seen anyone do that before," an amused voice said from behind, "Then again, I never saw a fool alone in the desert,"

Chazz turned to see a young man in black slacks, a white shirt and a black vest standing just behind him. The man had short, sandy-colored hair, and he juggled a couple of dice in his hands. The young duelist looked him over, "Who are _you_ supposed to be?"

* * *

"My draw!" Christina drew her next card, "I summon Amazoness Paladin (1700/300) in attack mode!" she declared as a beautiful blonde carrying a sword appeared on the field, "Like my Tiger, she has an effect. Let's see, for each monster I have on the field that has Amazoness in it's name, or is an Amazon Archer, my Paladin gains 100 attack points. There's three monsters, including herself, so she gains 300 points!"

Amazoness Paladin: (2000/300)

"Then there's my Tiger's effect as well! Same deal, more power!"

Amazoness Paladin (2000/300)  
Amazoness Chain Master (1500/1300)  
Amazoness Tiger (2300/1500)

Bastion smiled, "There's one thing you should know about my friend's deck is that she doesn't mess around with it,"

Celeste growled, "Neither do I...,"

"Amazoness Paladin!" Christina pointed at Rocket, "Attack and destroy Volcanic Rocket!"

The Paladin let out a battle cry, rushed over and cleaved the strange monster cleaning in half, the monster shattering into pixels.

**Ce: 4100  
Ch: 3600**

"I activate my facedown card!" Celeste pressed a button on her disk, "Volcanic Armor! I can only activate this when a Pyro-Type monster of mine is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, and when it activates, I can deal 500 points of damage to my opponent!"

**Ce: 4100  
Ch: 3100**

Christina growled and lower her arm, "Okay, that's it! The kid gloves are off! Amazoness Tiger, Amazoness Chain Master, attack her directly!"

Both the Tiger and Chain Master leapt at Celeste, attacking her hard and fast, dealing a large amount of damage before retreating back to Christina's side of the field.

**Ce: 300  
Ch: 3100**

Celeste fell to her knees, surprised at the power of the stranger's deck and skills with it.

"I told you that the kid's gloves were off," Christina cracked her neck, "End my turn,"

_Is this the power of those who challenge the Marshals?_ Celeste lifted her head to look at both Bastion and Christina, _It's unreal! However, I won't give up! I'm the best hunter in the region, and I'll be damned if a stranger takes my reputation away!_

"You okay?"

"I'm fine...," Celeste picked herself up and drew a card, increasing her Life Points thanks to Solemn Wishes.

**Ce: 800  
Ch: 3100**

"Let's see," Celeste looked at her hand, "Perfect! Girl, you just made the biggest mistake you made. You should've destroyed the card on the field first,"

Christina frowned, "Your Accelerator? What's the big deal about-?"

Bastion's eyes widened, "Her other card, Chrissy! You forgot about her other card!"

The Slifer's eyes locked onto the facedown card, "Oh...crap!"

_First duel she has and she makes a rookie mistake... _Bastion shook his head, _Hope this doesn't cost her the duel._

"Damn right!" Celeste smirked, "I activate my Spell card, Tri-Blaze Accelerator!"

Bastion and Christina blinked, "Tri-Blaze...?"

Celeste nodded, "One of my best cards. However, to bring it out on the field, I gotta send my Blaze Accelerator to the Graveyard," she explained as her Spell card was blasted into pieces only to be replaced by another gun-like apparatus appeared, this one holding three barrels instead of a single one.

"Like my original one, if I send a Pyro-Type monster from my hand to the Graveyard I can deal you 500 points of damage!" Celeste held up a card, "This time though, it's a Pyro-Type monster with any attack, so I'll sacrifice my Volcanic Hammerer (2400/1500) in order to use Tri-Blaze Accelerator's power!"

Bastion frowned as an impressive, dino-like beast in flames appeared on the field, only to somehow fit itself inside the cannon.

_That's a strong monster, why would she use it as small time damage? I know she doesn't have a sacrifice for it on the field right now, but with something like her deck, she must have something to help her with it. Strange strategy..._

"Fire, Tri-Blaze Accelerator!"

The triple-barreled cannon fired off a huge flaming bullet made of Hammerer that soared through the air. Christina braced herself for the impact, but even with that preparation, she flew a fair distance away as the flaming monster made contact with her body.

"CHRISTINA!" Bastion rushed over to her smoking body, "Are you alright?!"

"Just...just peachy," Christina cracked an eye open and lifted her head upward enough to look back at Celeste, "I can take a little bit of damage, Bastion. You forget, I'm in the lead with points and monsters here. I got this in the bag,"

Bastion glanced at Celeste, then back at his friend, "I'm not one to divulge information and strategies here, Christina-,"

"Yes, you are,"

"Whatever. Look, I'm just saying be cautious, please! There's something off about this woman. Her strategy here doesn't make sense. She just used up a powerful monster to deal you little damage. Why would she do that if she's got so few Life Points as it is?"

Christina scoffed and climbed back to her feet, "It's obvious she's desperate to land at least one more attack on me before I beat her,"

"But-,"

"Bastion," Christina held up her hand, "Relax, alright? I got this in the bag!" she assured him as she walked back to the battlefield, "My turn, I take it?" she asked loudly.

Celeste nodded, Your last turn!

"Right!" Christina drew her card, "I-"

"I activate my facedown card," Celeste cut her off suddenly, "Volcanic Force! By sending my Tri-Blaze Accelerator to the Graveyard, I can summon a great and powerful monster from my deck or hand to the field!"

Christina watched as a huge volcano suddenly appeared on the field. The mountain shook violently and lava shot out of the crater like a geyser of fiery death. Through the stream of lava, something stirred...something _big_!

A great beast, with blackened scales, massive claws and a head covered in flames stepped out of the volcano, taking it's place in front of Celeste.

"Hehehe," Christina's eye twitched as she stared up at the monster, "H-Hello...big fella,"

"This is my Volcanic Doomfire (3000/1800), and he's nothing like my past monsters," Celeste explained, "However, I cannot attack with him yet, so you may continue your turn,"

_Bastion sighed in relief, She's dodged a major bullet there..._ he looked at Christina, _What can she do against a beast like that, though?_

Christina looked at her hand, an emotionless look on her face.

_She's terrified, she just doesn't want to show it!_ Celeste tapped the ground, "I should tell you that if you want to end this duel without much injury, do it now!"

"Why is that?" Christina asked, looking up from her hand.

Celeste chuckled, "My Doomfire's not only stronger than any of your monsters, but it has a wonderful effect. During your Battle Phase, any monster you have in Attack Position must attack it. Not only that, but when he destroys a monster on your field, any and all other monsters you control are destroyed and for each one, you lost 500 attack points!"

Bastion gasped, "But that means-!"

Celeste nodded, "I can just keep dealing damage with Doomfire, no matter what! He's invincible!"

Christina slid the cards in her hand together and looked at Celeste quietly.

"Giving up?"

To her and Bastion's surprise, Christina smiled!

The brunette waved her hand of cards, "No monster is invincible! Sure, there are plenty of monsters that are strong as hell in the world, but _none_ of them are invincible! I know from some good friends as well as experience!"

Bastion couldn't help but smile, _She remembers Duel Academy well...alright, Chrissy, let's see what you got for her._

"First off," Christina slammed a card onto her disk, "I play Pot of Greed!" she drew two cards, "Next, I summon Amazoness Blowpiper (800/1500) in attack mode and I'll switch every other monster I have in defense mode!"

Bastion stared at her as her monsters knelt down, _Is she mad? She's practically served herself on a silver platter with that move! Christina, how hard did you hit your head when we crashed?! Wait, we're in virtual reality..._

"Next, I play Amazoness Spellcaster!" Christina slapped another card onto her disk, "One of my personal faves!"

Celeste frowned, "Say what now?"

Of course! Bastion smacked his palm, _That wasn't a mistake she made, she was setting her up! Brilliant play, Chrissy!_

"This is a Spell card that takes the attack power of an Amazoness on my field," she pointed to Blowpiper, "...and one of your monsters...," she pointed at Doomfire, "...and switch their attack points!"

Celeste gasped as her monster shrank in size due to lack of power while Christina's monster grew considerably.

Amazoness Blowpiper (3000/1500)  
Amazoness Tiger (2800/1500) DEF  
Amazoness Paladin (2100/300) DEF  
Amazoness Chain Master (1500/1300) DEF

"My monster!" Celeste stared in utter shock at her, "It's not possible! Only Lady Kotako has beaten me in a duel!"

"Well, add my name to the list of people who beat your ass in a duel," Christina pointed at Doomfire, "Blowpiper, send that thing to the Graveyard!"

* * *

The hacker whistled as he saw Doomfire get blown apart by the pumped-up Amazoness monster.

"Not bad, girl, not bad at all...just hope you put up a better fight against the next Game Marshal, unlike your rich friend,"

* * *

**Ce: 0  
Ch: 3100**

Defeated, Celeste fell onto her butt as both hers and Christina's duel disks turned off. The sound of approaching footsteps made her look up to see Bastion and Christina looking down at her.

"Now," Christina knelt down to her eye level, "Where's this Lady Kotako?"

Celeste looked at her, then at Bastion and sighed, "I'll take you to her. But first," she placed a couple of fingers in her mouth and blew a sharp, short whistle.

"Aw, man, that hurt!" Christina winced, "I'm right in front of you! What was that for?"

"Uh...Christina?"

Feeling Bastion tapping her shoulder, she looked up at him, "Sup?"

Bastion pointed to something in front of them. Christina followed his finger and saw something moving int he bushes ahead. Whatever it was, it was large and it was leaving a trail of smoke in it's wake.

"What...the...hell...?"

"My friend," Celeste turned to the shaking bushes, "Where were you?"

"Is it just me, or is she losing her mind?" Bastion whispered to his friend, "Talking to a bush...?"

"Maybe she's a closet member of the Knights-Who-Say-Ni and that's her shrubbery?"

Bastion facefaulted, "Christina?"

"Yes?"

"Be quiet,"

"Oi!"

After a few moments, the thing from the bushes finally emerged. It was a strange...thing. Yes, that was the best name to give it. It was a very strange animal with a body made entirely of black shells, and it's mouth resembled one of the monster's beaks from Tremors. It pretty much looked like a black-scaled, eye-less worm with for legs. The creature scuttled over to Celeste, who began to pet it. The creature let out a sound that the two people could only assume was a cooing noise before climbing onto Celeste's arm and up to her shoulders.

Celeste rose to her feet and started walking off, "Let's go, you two. Lady Kotako's waiting,"

Bastion and Christina could only stare.

* * *

**Kilnorc: -stretches- Believe it or not, but I've had this chapter saved for awhile, working on it here and there. I hope I did everything right, I was working with what I had. Celeste, the hunter, is a character idea I got from Rayo Verrani. The Volcanic Shell for a pet thing...I don't remember if it was his idea or mine, but I do remember the concept crossing my path, so I put it in there anyway.**

**I think I'm getting a bit back into this, so I'll try to update when I can. Later ya'll!**


	17. Noah's Tale

**Noah's Tale**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX  
**

* * *

Night had fallen in the virtual realm, and Jaden and his group had made camp in a large clearing. They weren't sleepy, but they figured they'd take a break and try to get a full explanation out of Noah, who was currently stoking a virtual campfire.

"We'll wait for the sun to rise, it's too dangerous to move in the night time," Noah looked up at the moon, "Too many nasties roaming around,"

"What's out there, Nazgul?" Siho cracked, "Look, thanks for the warning, but you have got some 'splaining to do, Lucy!"

Everyone stared at him.

He looked away, "Old show...very old show...just shut up,"

"He has a point though," Jaden leaned forward and looked at Noah, "Before, how did you know this was a game?"

Noah took a deep breath and leaned against a tree, "I guess I have to tell you everything sooner or later. I'm not a game sprite, or a character that Khamille's brother installed in this game. I've been in the virtual world for years now. This is my home, and there's someone interfering with it,"

"Hold on, hold on," Alexis waved her hands, "What do you mean you lived here for years?"

"A long time ago, when I was ten years old, I was in a car accident that left me completely paralyzed. With my body rendered useless, my father transferred my mind into a super computer. Since then, I've learned how to create things within the Virtual World that was my new home. My father said he had a way to bring me back to the real world, but he forgot about me,"

He looked away from the moon and saw that the others had looks of disbelief on their faces. Smiling, he continued his story.

"When I was sixteen, I was still in the virtual world. I had created a whole universe for myself in the computers of my father's company. At the time, I hated my father and the ones who took him from me. When the time came, the people I hated came and I tried to exact my vengeance on them. However, through events I had not anticipated, I realized I couldn't do that, so I did what I could to set things right. They had escaped, but I stayed behind and nearly died with an evil that had escaped to the Virtual World I had created,"

"Uh...nearly died?" Alexis repeated, "What do you mean by 'nearly died' ?"

"I managed to save myself on a back-up file before the explosion," Noah tapped his head, "Over the years, I recovered myself and started creating a whole new world again. It was better this time, because I was able to create A.I. programs of human, animal and Duel Monsters to inhabit this world so that I wouldn't be alone. These programs would go along with their 'lives' and I would be their protector as well as creator,"

Jaden blinked, "Protector?"

"From corrupted programs," Noah explained, "Every now and then, a Duel Monster or a human program would go bad and attack the people. I would be there to destroy the files so they wouldn't infect the rest of the programs I made. Recently, things began to change when Khamille's brother started to create an RPG game in the Virtual World. I didn't mind at first, but on different occasions, I would find a corrupt file or two. These files were different, however, because they would lash out more violently and drastically alter the world,"

"How so?" Khamille asked him, "It wasn't my brother, was it?"

Noah shook his head, "No, no. Your brother may alter the Virtual World for his game, but he wouldn't leave a corrupt file go unnoticed. I think there's another force on the outside, another person who has access to this Virtual World of mine. I don't know who it is, but i do know that that person is most likely the reason why Chazz has disappeared,"

* * *

In the real world, the hacker was watching the camping group on the monitor, taking a drag of a shortened cigarette.

"Father transferred your brain into the supercomputer?" the hacker leaned back in the chair, "I remember something oddly similar to that years back, but...it can't be that same kid,"

Taking a final drag of the cigarette, the hacker moved the mouse around to a couple of files on the desktop. The sound of mouse clicks echoed through the dark room as the hacker opened file after file. Coming across one labeled **NoahK.doc**, the hacker opened the file and scanned the contents, eyes widening more and more with each passing second.

"No frickin' way!" the hacker quickly went back to the camping screen, "You're _his_ son?!"

* * *

Siho rubbed his eyes, trying to comprehend everything Noah had told them.

"So, let me get this straight," the ebony-haired teen said slowly, "You lived in the real world, got into an accident, then got stuck here?"

"Yes,"

"Okay, it's happened in science fiction movies, why not real life?" Siho murmured before clearing his throat, "You're also telling us that there's a person out there, in the real world, screwing up the Virtual World. In doing that, the person has made Chazz disappear after his duel?"

"That and making the Duel Monsters go nuts," Noah added quickly.

"Okay, that too," Siho rubbed his hands, "So what do you suggest we do, Mr VR?"

Noah tapped his duel disk, "The only solution I can come up with is to actually win the game. Once that's done, the program should end and you'll be returned to the real world,"

Jordan frowned, "Would that work?"

"It's the best thing we got," Khamille stretched, "We really can't do anything about the person outside that's messing with the game, so the only things we should be worried about are finding our friends winning the game. Hopefully, the others on the outside will find out where that asshole is and fix the game before that jerk does any permanent damage to the Virtual World,"

* * *

The hacker laughed, "No one can find me, Miss Tong. I got the best anti-tracing scramblers, I know all about the KaibaCorp protocols...I have the advantage here! You can try and win the game if you want kiddies, but I promise you here and now that you'll never go home when this is over!"

* * *

Back in the testing room, Kristerr and the technicians had heard every word that the group had shared with Noah.

"Is this even possible?" the male Tong wondered aloud, "I've never heard of anything like preserving a person's brain in a supercomputer to keep them alive...,"

"Sir," one of the technicians looked up at him, "You think that this person that boy is referring to is the one who has trapped them in the game?"

"Well, it certainly seems so," Kristerr reached into his coat and pulled out his cell phone, "I honestly dunno what the hell to believe anymore today, but you all do your best to get these kids out of there. If anything happens to my sister-,"

"We'll try our best, Mr Tong,"

"Make sure you do," Kristerr stormed away, _I got a phone call to make._

Meanwhile, Kairi was sitting in a nearby computer chair, mind reeling with what she had just overheard from the game monitor.

_First year at Duel Academy, we get Shadow Games._ _Summer vacation, my friends are held hostage by a hacker and are guided by a guy whose mind was transferred from his real body to the computer..._ she rubbed her eyes _...this sounds like something from a bad sci-fi movie!  
_

* * *

"Lady Kotako! Lady Kotako!"

"What is it?"

"It's Huntress Celeste, she's been scouted on the edge of the valley with two strangers!"

"Is that so?"

"Yes, milady!"

"Send the Six out to greet her and escort her and her...guests back here. I wish to have a word with them immediately,"

* * *

**Kilnorc: Okay, another chapter for Cyber Battles is done with! Now, some people wanted explanations, so I gave some explanations. No doubt, that it's confusing, but I'm not used to doing big, extravagant stuff like that. Sorry, but I AM trying my best.**

**Now, this isn't the full story behind the hacker, and I'll explain that later on. Later, everyone.**


	18. Lady of the Castle in the Mist

**Lady of the Castle in the Mist**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX**

**Kilnorc: Before I begin, I have something to say. Some people seem to think that the Game Marshals are of my creation, but that's my fault, I don't think I said it enough. The Game Marshals used in this fic, also known as the Animasters in some fics, belong to my good friend DarkScytheQueen, who owns Kristerr and Khamille as well. Thought I'd get that out there in case there was any confusion or assumptions. Thank you, and on with the chapter!**

* * *

"So, stranger, what's your name?"

"Feh. Chazz Princeton. That's the only time I'm gonna say it, so remember it well," Chazz looked at the Sand Gambler, "Who're you, anyway?"

The Sand Gambler chuckled, "Name's Charles, but please, call me Charlie,"

_How about I call you Loser?_ Chazz thought as he looked around, "Where am I?"

"Rejection, City of the Desert," Charlie said with a hint of pride in his voice.

_Rejection? Chazz scoffed, I can see why. This place is a total dump!_

"What brings you out to the desert, Chazz?"

Chazz turned to his new...friend, "I'm not sure. I was in the mansion of one of the Game Marshals, and the next thing I know, I wound up out there," he pointed to the sandy desert behind him, "I have no clue where I am,"

"Hmm, Game Marshal, eh?" Charlie looked down at Chazz's duel disk, "Ah, you're a duelist?"

"Yeah, what of it?"

Charlie smiled, "I've heard news about duelists lately. You wouldn't happen to be one of the eight duelists who challenge the Game Marshals, would you?"

"Well-,"

"Of course you are, what am I thinking?!" Charlie smacked himself on the forehead, "You said you were from a Game Marshal's mansion, so of course you must be one of the eight!"

_No duh, Sherlock..._ Chazz rolled his eyes at the Sand Gambler, "What's it to ya, anyway?"

Charlie laughed and wrapped his arm around Chazz, "Stick with me, boyo, and you'll get to where you need to go!"

"Let go of me," Chazz shook the Sand Gambler off him, "If you really know where to take me, then quit yapping and take me there!"

"Alright, alright, calm down," Charlie waved him off, "If we're gonna leave, we gotta do it now, the stables are gonna close soon!"

Chazz's face was soon covered with a mask of uncertainty.

"Stables?"

A short time later...

"Oh, you have got to be _kiddin'_ me!"

Chazz stared as Charlie stepped out of a large stable with two large birds behind him. The birds looked like knockoff's of Chocobo's from Final Fantasy, complete with saddles on their backs.

"Niwatori's are good for crossing desert sands," Charlie explained as he climbed onto one bird, "You're gonna have to leave this town to get where you wanna go, Chazz, but it's impossible to do that on foot,"

"Heh, I survived the desert just fine the first time,"

"You got lucky," Charlie guided the second Niwatori over to Chazz, "You can either climb on and ride with me out of town, or you can stick around,"

Chazz growled and grabbed the reins for the Niwatori, "Alright, already, I'll get on the damn bird," he muttered, sticking his foot into the saddle loop. After a few moments of trying, Chazz's foot caught the loop and he hauled himself onto the saddle...only to slide off the other side.

Charlie shook his head, "This is gonna be a _long_ ride,"

* * *

Christina yawned and stretched as far as she could as she woke up from a strangely peaceful sleep. Despite it being a virtual world, sleeping normally still came just as it would on the outside. She didn't question it, she enjoyed the nap. Blinking, she sat up and looked around to see Bastion and Celeste were awake as well.

"Morning," Bastion greeted as she moved towards them, "Sleep well, Chrissy?"

"Yeah," Christina yawned loudly, "You know, Bastion, this VR world is amazing. Who knew you could actually sleep in it?!"

Bastion chuckled, "You'd be surprised what today's technology could bring, Chrissy. Look at Duel Monsters. Years ago, it was just a card game played on tabletops, but nowadays, we can bring the monsters to life. Don't put it past technology to make things more lifelike,"

"I guess," Christina shrugged and pulled out her deck, "I wanna get to this Lady Kotako person. I really, really, wanna duel her!"

"Why?"

"Why?" Christina looked at her friend like he was crazy, "You kiddin' me?! Bastion, Chazz lost his duel with Evan, and I have a chance to fight a Game Marshal now. If all Marshals are as good as Evan was, then it's gonna be great!"

Bastion sighed, "You're just like Jaden, you know that?"

"I'll take that as a compliment,"

"If you two are done talking nonsense," Celeste rose to her feet, her pet Volcanic Shell on her shoulder again, "It's dawn, so we have to move now if you want to get to Lady Kotako before the day is over with,"

"Good call," Christina hopped to her feet, "Where is this chick, anyway?"

Celeste pointed in the direction they would be going, "She resides in Sogen Valley, along with her army and subjects. She is not to be underestimated in a duel,"

"Yeah, well neither am I," Christina said, cracking her knuckles, "Let's go already!"

Bastion sweatdropped at his friend's attitude, _She's confident like Jaden, but I do hope she doesn't make any strategic errors like Chazz did..._

* * *

"Are we there yet?"

"No,"

"Are we there yet?"

"No,"

"Are we there yet?"

"_No_,"

"Are we there yet?"

"NO! NO WE ARE NOT THERE YET!" Celeste screamed, whirling around on Christina, "WE ARE NOT THERE YET, SO STOP ASKING ME IF WE ARE THERE YET, ALRIGHT?!"

Christina shrank behind Bastion, "Creepy lady's screaming for no reason...,"

Celeste's eye twitched, "Don't make me feed you to my friend before I hand you over to Lady Kotako," she hissed as her Volcanic Shell growled and snapped it's strange jaws at Christina.

"When are we going to arrive there, Miss?" Bastion asked politely, hoping to stop the screaming.

"We're at the entrance of Sogen Valley," Celeste ran a hand through her hair, "If you look past those trees," she pointed to a group of trees ahead of them, "You'll see it,"

Christina whizzed by them, nearly knocking the two of them to the ground. She ran past the wooded area to see a beautiful sight. It was a beautiful valley, like one would see on TV from a peaceful country or something. It had grassy hills, mountains on multiple sides, and even a large building sat in the middle of it. It was almost covered by a large veil of mist, but Christina could see it enough to get chills down her spine.

"Wow," she gasped as the others joined her, "This place looks like something outta Inuyasha!" she spun around to Bastion, a very excited look on her face, "Did you see a guy pinned to a tree on the way here?"

"Er, no, I'm afraid not," Bastion said slowly, _When she's not thinking about dueling, her mind is either filled with utter randomness, movies, or anime. Honestly, how she never got kicked out of Duel Academy is beyond me._

"Halt, intruders!"

Bastion and Christina turned to see a group of six men in armor, riding on horseback gallop up to them. The horses looked identical: fierce, black steeds with plate armor covering their backs and the legs, as well as glowing eyes.

One man was dressed in dark armor with yellow lining and carried a bow, another man was dressed in dark red armor with what appeared to be dynamite sticks hanging off his belt, the third was dressed in blue armor and carried what looked like a strange sword (or spear) of glowing energy, the fourth was dressed in green armor and carried two swords at his side, the fifth man wore golden armor and carried a long spear, and the sixth and final one was dressed in dark violet armor and carried a black katana.

Christina stared at the group of men.

"Something wrong, Chrissy?" Bastion asked, noticing her stare.

The brunette pointed at the man with the black katana, "Dude, Ichigo lookalike!"

Bastion blinked in confusion, "Say what?"

"I think he's an Ichigo cosplayer..." she pointed to the black sword, "...and he's got Bankai!"

Celeste waved at them and walked over to them, "Samurai, I have found two of the challengers that wish to fight the Game Marshals, as ordered by Lady Kotako. I am on my way to her palace so that I may deliver them to her,"

The six samurai looked at each other, then back at her.

"Huntress Celeste, on behalf of Lady Kotako, we congratulate you on a successful mission. We are under orders ourselves from Lady Kotako to escort you and your companions to her so that she may duel the girl,"

Christina clapped excitedly, "BOOYA!"

* * *

The trip into the valley was long, but Christina was so excited about dueling, she couldn't care less. As they approached the building, Christina noticed multiple ravens occupied the bare trees that surrounded the area. Though excited, the area still creeped her out, so she stuck close to Bastion, clinging to his sleeve.

"You okay, Chrissy?" he whispered.

Christina nodded and jumped when a raven cawed loudly, "Y-Yeah...j-just fine, Bastion. Weird places like this always freak me out,"

"Why?"

"They just do, alright?!" Christina poked her head out, "Hey, samurai! How much further?!"

They all pointed to the building in front of them.

"Oh, c'mon!" Christina whined, "You serious?!"

"Lady Kotako awaits you both on the top level of the castle, challengers,"

Christina moaned and gripped Bastion tighter.

The brainy duelist patted her hand, "It's alright, Christina, just stick by me,"

"Alright...but keep an eye out for a drugged out hippie and a talking dog hiding in a suit of armor!"

"What now?"

* * *

Christina kept her eyes closed throughout most of the ascent of the creepy castle. But when Bastion tapped her, she opened her eyes to find herself (along with the others), in a large room. It was decorated with different kinds of weapons from nunchaku, zanbatos, katanas, etc. as well a large, ornate throne on the opposite end. On that throne was a young woman with long, light brown hair, dressed in magnificent silver armor. Though it was a different color, it was the same armor that Evan wore back in the Dragon Region. She also wore a belt at her hip.

"Welcome back, Samurai," the woman greeted.

The six warriors bowed low to her, "Thank you, Lady Kotako,"

Celeste bowed as well, "Lady Kotako, I have done what you have ordered me to,"

"Excellent job, Celeste," Kotako rose from her seat and walked a few feet towards them, "How bad did the girl beat you?"

"W-what? How did-?"

"I predicted that you would duel, and I also predicted that you would lose by her hand," Kotako turned to look at Christina, her green eyes locking onto Chrissy's blue eyes, "Word has reached the rest of the Game Marshals about your challenge, my friends. I look forward to a duel with you,"

Christina grinned and cracked her knuckles, "Same here,"

Bastion looked at her, then at Kotako, This came sooner than expected, but I suppose there's no stopping it now.

"Well, hello there,"

Startled, Bastion watched as Kotako approached him, a flirty look in her eyes, "Uhm...hello,"

Kotako smiled and ran a finger along his cheek, "You're a cutey, aren't ya?"

Bastion blushed, "Uh, w-w-well...I...I...,"

"Hey, you wanna duel, let's duel!" Christina came between them and pushed Kotako away from her friend, "This boy's had enough girl duelist problems in the past, he doesn't need another one,"

Kotako scoffed, "I see. He's your man, then?"

The blush on Bastion's face was soon matched by a blush that crossed Christina's face.

"WHAT?!"

"How about this?" Kotako smiled mischievously, "We duel like we wanted, but we up the ante. If you win, not only do you get a free passport to the next Game Marshal, but you get to keep your man,"

"He's not-,"

"But if I win, he becomes my man,"

Bastion frowned, "Now, hold on-,"

"Deal!" Christina activated her duel disk.

Kotako giggled as she pulled her sword glowed a bright light. The glowing sword moved from her hip onto her left arm, where it morphed into a strange looking duel disk. The disk tray looked like the blade of a katana, but the arm and deck area looked like a shield.

"AWESOME DUEL DISK!" Christina yelled, her eyes widening at the sight of the strange disk on Kotako's arm.

"Come, Six Samurai, serve me once again in battle!" she declared, holding up her arm.

The six warriors glowed brightly and became orbs of light which flew into the Game Marshal's duel disk, followed shortly by numerous other glowing orbs.

"This is gonna be fun," Kotako grinned as she shuffled her deck and drew her cards.

"You bet your ass it is!" Christina agreed as she mimicked Kotako.

"LET'S DUEL!!"

* * *

**Kilnorc: Alright, time for the second Game Marshal duel! I know we got here sooner than the last one, but I bet a lot of you are wanting more Game Marshal duels instead of filler duels. Let's rock, ppl!**


	19. Samurai vs Amazons Part One

**Samurai vs Amazons Part One  
**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX  
**

* * *

"LET'S DUEL!"

**K: 4000  
C: 4000**

"Since I am the Lady of this castle, I shall go first," Kotako drew her card, "I place one card facedown and I summon The Six Samurai - Irou (1700/1200) in attack mode!"

Christina watched as the samurai in purple appeared on the field, his black blade gleaming. She grinned, "Dude, it's the Ichigo cosplayer again!"

Kotako rolled her eyes, "Good to have you on the field, Irou,"

The samurai gripped his sword, "I am yours to command in battle, Lady Kotako! I will not let this stranger harm you in this duel,"

"Good to know," Kotako slid a card into her duel disk, "I place one card facedown and end my turn,"

"Since when can monsters talk?" Christina asked, scratching her head.

Bastion sweatdropped, "Chrissy, two things! One: It's not impossible given what we've seen. Two: Don't worry about that for now!"

_He's right, time for me to take my turn!_ Christina drew her card and looked at her hand, _Perfect! This card is just what I need to take down Irou!_

"I summon to the field, Amazoness Paladin (1700/300)!" Christina cried as her blonde female warrior appeared, "My Paladin has a special effect, too! For every monster on my field that has Amazoness in it's name, my Paladin gains 100 points! So, counting her, she rises to 1800 attack points,"

"I'm afraid not!" Kotako pressed a button on her disk, "Activate facedown card, Solemn Judgment!"

Christina frowned, "Solemn Judgment?"

Kotako nodded, "By sacrificing half of my Life Points, I can negate the activation of any Spell or Trap cards, or the summoning of any monsters this turn,"

**K: 2000  
C: 4000**

"Aw man," Christina moaned as her Amazoness was blown to bits and pieces, "C'mon!"

"I believe it's still your turn,"

"Alright, alright," Christina looked at her hand, "I place three cards facedown and my turn,"

Kotako drew her card, "I summon-,"

"Hold up!" Christina cut her off, "I activate my facedown card, Call of the Haunted to bring back my Amazoness Paladin to the field! Since you don't have Solemn Judgment on the field, you can't negate it's summoning!" she grinned, "Don't forget that it gets a power boost,"

Amazoness Paladin (1800/300)

"Hm, interesting," Kotako looked at her hand again, "As I was saying, I summon The Six Samurai - Nisashi (1400/700) in attack mode!"

The green armored warrior with two blades appeared on the field alongside Irou. The blindfolded samurai nodded at the arrival at his comrade and the second samurai returned the nod.

"Next, I play the Spell cards, Book of Moon and Heavy Storm! These Spell card lets me turn one of your face-up monsters into facedown position, and blow away any Spell or Trap cards on the field!"

Christina facefaulted as her Paladin flipped over and became a normal looking card in defense mode, _You gotta be kiddin' me!_

"Nisashi, attack her facedown monster now! Double Sword Strike!"

"Yes, Lady Kotako!" the recently summoned Samurai dashed over and cut Christina's facedown Paladin in half.

Great, Christina grimaced, _Could this get any worse?_

"Attack again, Nisashi!"

_What the-!?_ Christina stumbled back as Nisashi cut into her with both his glowing green swords, her Life Points dwindling.

**K: 2000  
C: 2600**

"Hold on!" Bastion shouted from the sidelines, "How can he attack in the same turn?!" he demanded, "Something's afoot!"

Kotako smiled and wagged a finger, "Wrong, honey. Nothing's afoot here, that's just Nisashi's ability. You see, if there's one thing I'm proud of is that my Six Samurai are not only incredibly loyal to me, but they have wonderful abilities,"

"Like what?" Christina hissed, _Geez...that hurt!_

"Well, for one thing, their abilities can only be activated if there is more than one Samurai on my field. If Irou wasn't around," she pointed to her purple warrior, "Then Nisashi wouldn't have been able to attack twice in the same turn. Speaking of Irou," she pointed at Christina, "Irou, attack her with Black Blade Bash!"

Christina screamed and flew a few feet backward as Irou's black sword cut into her.

"Chrissy!" Bastion started to run to her, but he was held back by Celeste, who held onto his arm, "Are you alright?!"

"Just...just...peachy," Christina said weakly, "Perfectly fine!"

**K: 2000  
C: 900**

"I end my turn,"

_Man, how the hell did it go from okay to this? This lady's **good!**_ Christina drew her card, "I play Pot of Greed, which allows me to draw two more cards from my deck!" she drew her new cards, "I now play the Spell card Polymerization in order to fuse both my Dark Blade (1800/1500) and my Pitch-Dark Dragon (900/600) in order to summon forth Dark Blade the Dragon Knight (2200/1500)!"

Kotako watched as the two monsters merged to create a powerful looking dragon-rider that soon hovered between her samurai and her opponent.

"Interesting. I had heard you used Amazons, but I didn't know you did Fusion Warriors as well,"

"I don't limit myself to just one species of monsters!" Christina huffed, "I use what's good in my deck, so shut up! Dark Blade the Dragon Knight, attack Nisashi!"

The dragon roared and flew at the dual-wielding warrior.

Kotako grinned, "Activate secondary ability of the Six Samurai!"

Dark Blade the Dragon Knight took a huge bite out of Nisashi, the Samurai screaming in pain.

**K: 1700  
C: 900**

"Nisashi!" Irou snapped his head to his comrade, "Lady Kotako, I-,"

"Of course, Irou," Kotako nodded as the Dragon returned, "By activating my Samurai's second ability, I choose to send one of my other Samurai to the Graveyard instead of the one you attacked. Irou, I hope to see you again soon,"

Irou bowed before disappearing in a flash.

Christina frowned, "Okay, that I can get...," she pointed at the Life Point reader, "You should've lost more points than that though!"

"Yes, how odd," Bastion nodded, holding his chin, "She didn't play any Spells or Trap cards, and I'm sure she would've mentioned another ability, so how could she have done that?"

"The castle,"

Bastion turned to Celeste, who was watching the duel closely, "I beg your pardon?"

Celeste pointed to the floor, "This castle. Lady Kotako rarely duels outside of this castle, and the reason for that is because it suits her samurai well. You see, when people duel her here, the monsters that attack her samurai lose 500 attack points when they attack. Christina may have been able to destroy one samurai, but she wasn't able to do as much damage as she may have hoped,"

"YOU THINK YOU COULD'VE TOLD ME THAT INFO A LITTLE SOONER?!" Christina shouted from the field.

Bastion turned to her, "Christina, please! Calm down, and keep your head in this duel. Remember what happened to Chazz when he fought against Evan: he became arrogant and cocky, and because of that, he lost the duel and disappeared. I don't want that to happen to you,"

Christina looked at him, blushing lightly, "Y-You don't?"

"Of course not," Bastion shrugged, "If you disappear, I'm stuck here with this crazy person," he said, pointing to Kotako.

Both Kotako and Christina fell over at the comment, but they quickly regained their composure.

_He's right though, I gotta be careful. I'm already past the 1000 remaining Life Point markDark Dragon the Dragon Knight's handy, but I gotta have a back-up plan. I'll have to resort to top-decking because of this, but my gut says go with it!_ Christina looked at her hand, "I place one card facedown on the field and end my turn," she declared, inserting the last card in her hand into the deck slot.

"Very well, my turn," Kotako drew her card, "Hmm...,"

_Hmm? Hmm what, you weirdo?!_ Christina tilted her head, "What?"

"I usually let all my samurai deal with my opponents, but since you and your cute friend over there," she paused to wave at Bastion, "...have peaked my interest, I'll use one of my better monsters in our duel,"

_Great, knowing my luck she's got a monster that rips off demons or something..._ Christina thought bitterly.

"Since I have at least one samurai on my field, I can Special Summon this!" Kotako slapped a card onto her disk, "The Grandmaster of the Six Samurai (2100/800) in attack mode!"

An elderly man in gray and white armor appeared on the field, his long white hair flowing down his back while his brown eyepatch poked out of his bangs.

"Next, I play the Spell card, Cunning of the Six Samurai! This allows me to bring back a Samurai from my Graveyard in exchange of a Samurai on my field. Nisashi, I replace you with Irou, so that he can aid in this battle once again,"

"Yes, milady!" Nisashi bowed and disappeared in a flash of light, his spot soon reclaimed by Irou.

"Now, I play the Union Monster, Spirit of the Six Samurai (500/500)," Kotako inserted her card into the slot underneath Irou, "As a Union monster, I can use it as an Equip monster once per turn,"

"I know how Unions work," Christina interrupted, "I got my own here,"

Kotako's eye twitched, "I Equip Spirit of the Six Samurai to Irou, increasing his attack and defense by 500 points!"

Irou's body was soon covered by ghostly armor filled with blue flames and a ghostly figure. He donned the new armor, and with it, his power grew.

Six Samurai - Irou (2200/1700)

"Now it has enough power to destroy Dark Blade!" Bastion's eyes narrowed, _If her plan succeeds, then Christina would have lost the duel and she'll end up disappearing like Chazz did!_

"Irou! Attack and destroy Dark Blade the Dragon Knight!"

**To Be Continued...**

* * *

**Kilnorc: Okay, that chapter's done. Now, this is the first time I've ever used Six Samurai monsters in my work, or that I've ever really used 'em in battle because I do not own them. I have some info from a friend's source that the second ability of Six Samurai works like I put in there, but I never used them so I can't confirm them. I'm sorry if I've made a mistake.**

**And yes, the place they are dueling in is Shien's Castle in the Mist, so instead of a power bonus, it gives another kind of bonus. Another idea from a friend.**


	20. Samurai vs Amazons Part Two

**Samurai vs Amazons Part Two  
**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX**

**_Last time, on Cyber Battles, Christina and the Game Marshal, Lady Kotako, began their duel and though it started okay for Chrissy, it soon turned into a match for survival against Kotako's Six Samurai deck. The warriors with surprising abilities hammered away at her Life Points, and now Kotako has summoned the Grandmaster of the Six Samurai! Will Chrissy find victory or will she fall like Chazz?_**

* * *

"Irou! Attack and destroy Dark Blade the Dragon Knight!"

_Now!_ Christina pressed a button on her duel disk and seconds later, the field was covered with a thick cloud of smoke as Irou's attack hit it's target.

Kotako smiled, "Your monster's destroyed,"

"I don't think so,"

"Eh?"

Kotako watched as the smoke cleared to see Irou stabbing...the Grandmaster with his sword! Dark Blade the Dragon Knight was still safe, but The Grandmaster of the Six Samurai was hovering in the air with two suction cups holding him in place, Irou's sword plunged into his chest.

"What the-?!"

Christina smiled, "I'm glad I put that card down, even if it emptied my hand. When you attacked, I activated my facedown Trap card, Magical Arm Shield! If you attack my monster, and if you have another monster on your field, I can use this Trap card to use that monster as a shield for my monster, meaning you just destroyed your own creature!"

The Grandmaster groaned in pain before exploding in bits of light.

"Since it was your monster, you lose the Life Points," Christina added, _Even if it is a small amount..._

**K: 1600  
C: 900**

Bastion sighed in relief, "Excellent stroke of luck, Chrissy,"

"Aw, it was more like strategy, really, Bastion," the female Slifer said, slightly embarrassed.

"No, I'm pretty sure it was luck,"

_Why that little-!_

"I end my turn, seeing as my monster's attack is over and I have nothing else to play right now," Kotako said loudly, "Go on,"

_C'mon, Heart of the Cards, gimme something good here, I need it!_ Christina drew her card and smiled, _Bingo!_

"I play the Spell card, Card of Sanctity! This Spell card allows us both to draw until we have six cards in our hands,"

"Very well," Kotako drew a full hand as Christina did, "Oh, not bad,"

"Same here," Chrstina looked at her hand, "I place one card facedown, and then I play the Spell card, Restructer Revolution! For every card in my opponent's hand, they get dealt 200 points of damage, and since you have six...,"

**K: 400  
C: 900**

"I end my turn,"

Kotako drew a card and discarded one from her hand, "I unequip my Spirit of the Six Samurai from my Irou and Special Summon it to the field alongside him. Next, I sacrifice both monsters in order to summon Great Shogun Shien (2500/2400) in attack mode!"

A large, impressive man in red samurai armor, wielding a glowing katana appeared on the field, the sword leaving an aura trail as it swept through the air.

_Wow..._ Christina stared, _Nice monster!_

"Next, I remove my Irou and my Nisashi from the Graveyard in order to Special Summon Enishi, Shien's Chancellor (2200/1200) in attack mode!"

Another impressive man, this one dressed in robes that resembled those of a nobleman, appeared on the field next to the Shogun.

"Sadly, he will not be staying, because I play the Spell card, Mystik Wok!"

Christina's shoulders slumped, "Not that card...,"

"So, you know what that does?" Kotako tilted her head, "By sacrificing one of my monsters, I can gain Life Points equal to either their attack or their defense points. Since I sacrifice Enishi, I choose to gain his attack points and add them to my Life Points,"

**K: 2600  
C: 900**

"Now, Great Shogun Shien, attack and destroy Dark Blade the Dragon Knight!"

Shien let out a battle roar and charged Dark Blade, his sword glowing brighter and brighter with each step.

"Not so fast!" Christina shouted, "Activate facedown card, De-Fusion!"

Just before Shien cleaved Dark Blade the Dragon Knight, the large Fusion monster suddenly separated and the two monsters that created it moved out of harm's way just in time.

Kotako tapped her foot as Shien came back to her, "You have fair monsters, and either a good strategy or a decent amount of luck," she grinned, "I must say, you are a fun opponent, Christina,"

"Same to you, Lady Kotako," Christina wiped her chin, "New monsters, new Spells...I _love_ this kind of duel!"

* * *

A short time before...

Outside the Castle, a door materialized out of thin air and opened up. From the dark portal, Noah stepped out into the open, closely followed by the rest of his group, who somehow managed to make a large dogpile as they exited.

"I forgot how much easier it was to use these shortcuts," the virtual duelist murmured as his door disappeared, "Glad I remembered,"

"Why couldn't you remember that sooner?!" Jordan and Siho shouted up at him.

Noah shrugged, "Sorry, but all that weird stuff and running into you guys threw me off. Now, c'mon," he pointed to the Castle behind him, "That's where the next Game Marshal is. If we're lucky, she'll know where Bastion and Chrissy are,"

A flash of light from the top floor of the castle made everyone look up.

"Something tells me you may be right, Noah," Alexis said as she rose to her feet, rubbing her neck.

* * *

Great Shogun Shien (2500/2400)

Dark Blade (1800/1500)  
Pitch-Dark Dragon (900/600)

Kotako looked at her hand, "I play Reinforcement of the Army, which allows me to go through my deck and allows me to pick a Level 4 or lower Warrior monster and add it to my hand," she pulled out and fanned out her deck, "I pick my Six Samurai - Zanji (1800/1300),"

"Alright,"

Kotako shuffled her deck, "I end my turn with a facedown,"

Christina drew her card, "I play the Ritual Spell card, Hamburger Recipe! By sacrificing a monster or monsters whose total level equals Level 6, I can summon a more powerful monster to my field. So, from my hand, i sacrifice my Kiryu (2000/1500) and my Amazoness Blowpiper (800/1500) to summon Hungry Burger (2000/1850) to the field in attack mode!"

Everyone watched as a large hamburger with jaws appeared on the field, snapping like a set of crazy teeth.

"You may have summoned a new monster, but I activate my Trap card," Kotako's facedown rose upward, "Swiftstrike Armor! Now, during my Draw Phase, if I manage to draw a Samurai monster, I can Special Summon it to the field,"

"We'll see if you get that chance," Christina smirked, "I equip my Pitch-Dark Dragon to my Dark Blade, and by doing so, he gains 400 attack and defense points!"

Dark Blade (2200/1900)  
Hungry Burger (2000/1850)

"Next, I play the Spell card, The A. Forces! For every Warrior or Spellcaster monster I have on my field, any and all Warriors I have gain 200 attack points. Since I have two Warriors, yes Hungry Burger is a Warrior, they each gain 400 points each!"

Dark Blade (2600/1900)  
Hungry Burger (2400/1850)

"Dark Blade, attack and destroy Shogun Shien!"

Kotako watched as her Shogun and Christina's black armored warrior charged each other, their swords raised. The two ran past each other, a loud ringing filling the air as they stopped a few feet from each other. Shien dropped his sword before exploding into pixels, shouting as he disappeared.

**K: 2500  
C: 900**

"Go for it Hungry Burger!"

The rabid fast food dish screeched and flew at Kotako, taking a large bite out of her and her armor.

**K: 100  
C: 900**

"I end my turn,"

Bastion clapped loudly, "Bravo, Chrissy, bravo!"

Christina laughed and rubbed the back of her head, "I do what I can,"

"My turn now," Kotako drew her card, "What do you know? A Samurai, which means I can Special Summon him to the field now. So, come to the field, Six Samurai - Kamon (1500/1000)!"

The samurai in red armor with a pack of dynamite appeared on the field, a lit match in one hand and the TNT in the other.

"Lady Kotako, I am at your command!"

"Good to know, now I also summon Six Samurai - Zanji to the field in attack mode!"

The golden armored samurai appeared on the field, spinning his spear around.

"Ready for battle, Lady Kotako!" he reported, "We serve you 'til death!"

"Which is why I hold you boys in such high regard," Kotako slid a card into her disk, "I play my own copy of A. Forces, raising my boys' power, just like it did your monsters,"

Six Samurai - Zanji (2200/1300)  
Six Samurai - Kamon (1900/1000)

"Next, I activate Kamon's special ability. With him, I can destroy one Spell or Trap card on the field, but he can't attack in the same turn because of that. Kamon, destroy her A. Forces with Samurai Demolition!"

"At once, Lady Kotako!" Kamon lit his sticks of TNT and tossed it over to the opposing side of the field.

_Aw crap..._ Christina raised both her arms up just in time to protect her face from the blast that shook her side of the field. Her Spell card was destroyed, and when that vanished, so did her monster's attack bonus.

Six Samurai - Zanji (2200/1300)  
Six Samurai - Kamon (1900/1000)

Dark Blade (2200/1900)  
Hungry Burger (2000/1850)

"Zanji, attack Hungry Burger now!"

The spear carrying Samurai leapt into the air, spinning his weapon around like crazy. He landed directly in front of the beastly burger and cut deep into it, splattering what Christina hoped to be ketchup across the field before blasting it to oblivion.

**K:100  
C: 700**

"I end my turn,"

Christina drew her card and looked at the field, T_his isn't good! My power ups are wiped off the field, and even with the power up I got from Pitch-Dark Dragon, my Dark Blade won't be able to destroy either of her monsters without killing itself in the process thanks to this castle of hers...I need a miracle!_

Bastion took a deep breath and ran his hands through his hair, This duel rides on this turn alone. _Whatever Chrissy drew, determines her fate in this duel against this Game Marshal!_

_Please, I need some good luck...!_ Christina raised the only card in her hand and almost instantly, a large smile crossed her face, "HELL YEAH! I GOT THIS IN THE BAG!"

Kotako raised an eyebrow, "Hm?"

"Lady Kotako, I gotta say that this was an awesome duel, and believe me, before I looked at my card, I thought I was a goner for sure. But it looks like luck favors the prepared-,"

"Or the foolish," her opponent interjected.

"Oh hush," Christina slipped the new card into a slot, "In addition to Pitch-Dark Dragon's ability as an Equip card and it's bonus, I equip Lucky Iron Axe to my Dark Blade, raising it's power by 500 points!"

Dark Blade (2700/1900)

"I know that your Castle makes the monsters that attack your Samurai lose 500 attack points, but with this, my luck has really changed, hence the name of the card," she pointed to Dark Blade, "I have just enough to win this. Dark Blade, attack Kamon with Dark Dragon Cut! End this duel!"

"NO!" Kotako watched in surprise as Dark Blade rushed to her field and swung his blade across Kamon's chest so hard, his body armor broke apart before vanishing from the field.

**K: 0  
C: 700**

Christina gave the V sign, "I win, Kotako!"

* * *

**Kilnorc: -slumps into chair- I was working on this all day, and I hope I did everything right. Spent a lot of time researching the cards, so I hope I did it correctly. Later everybody!**


	21. Virtual Spirit

**Virtual Spirit**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX  
**

* * *

After watching Christina win her duel against Lady Kotako of the Game Marshals, Kairi was practically bouncing off the walls in the real world. She was ecstatic about her friend's victory, especially since the last time her friends went up against a Game Marshal, Chazz lost and disappeared. Speaking of Chazz, there was no sign of him yet...then again, the virtual world was probably very large inside the computer, so it probably took a while longer to look for a single person.

"Two fights down, six to go, baby!" Kairi bounced around gleefully, "BOOYA, CHRISSY!"

"Uh, kid?"

Still bouncing, Kairi turned to the technicians, all of whom had annoyed looks on their faces.

"Yeah?"

"How about you go find Mr. Tong and tell him the good news of her victory?"

"He'd probably like to know,"

"Yeah, I'm sure he would,"

Kairi stopped bouncing and ran towards the door, "I'm on it!"

After she left, the technicians went back to work.

"Never thought that hyper-active kid would leave,"

"Same here,"

"Mhm,"

"Ditto...,"

* * *

In the hacker's dark room, said hacker was typing away furiously at the keyboard, looking up at the computer monitor every few moments to see if anything had changed yet. After a bit, the hacker's fingers hovered over the keyboard, eyes focused on the monitor ahead.

**"I'm so glad we found you guys!"**

**"Chrissy won? Against a Game Marshal?! What is this, Armageddon?"**

**"Shaddup, Siho! See if I root for you when you go up against one of the Game Marshals,"**

**"You suck,"**

**"No, _you_ suck!"**

The hacker's neckbones cracked loudly around the room as it waited for the conversations to die down. All it needed was the right moment, then it'd show these brats some real fun.

"Almost ready...,"

* * *

"So...," Christina pointed to Noah, "You're a-?"

"An example of hybrid technology of computers and human thought," Bastion murmured, circling around Noah, "Fascinating! I've heard theories...,"

"And I've read a lot of sci-fi books," Christina scratched her head, "Wow,"

Alexis glanced at her friend, "When you say read, do you mean seen a lot sci-fi movies?"

Before she had a chance to answer, Noah let out a loud whistle, getting everyone's attention. The virtual duelist looked at the group, "Guys, I hate to break up the little reunion, but the sooner we leave this place, the sooner we can get to the next Marshal, and the sooner you can beat them, then the sooner you guys can get outta here,"

"_With_ Chazz," Christina reminded him.

Noah shrugged, "Yeah, if you want him, I guess...,"

"Alright, so who's the next Game Marshal?" Jaden asked to no one, "We've already dealt with two of them...,"

"I think it's Lady Midori," Noah rubbed his chin, "If we want to hurry this along, we'll have to use my door shortcuts,"

"_Midori_?" Khamille crossed her arms, "Who wants to duel her?"

Before anyone could say anything, Christina grabbed Bastion's arm and shot it upward, "Bastion does!" she half-shouted.

"Chrissy!"

"Aw, c'mon!"

Noah grinned, "Bastion?"

The nerdy duelist pulled his back away and looked at Christina, who had a pleading look in her eyes. He sighed and hung his head, "I'm next to duel, I suppose,"

"If that's true, then you are in big trouble," Khamille walked in front of him, "Listen to me, and listen, buddy. I know Midori's deckstyle and with your deck, you're gonna need some help,"

Bastion smiled, "I appreciate your concern, Khamille, but I believe my deck will suffice. I've constructed it to fit my strategies,"

"Trust me, Bastion, you're gonna need help!" Khamille scratched her head, "Guess we'll have to look for a town with card shops...then we'd be able to use up some of the small fortune we earned,"

Noah bit his fingernail, "I'm not sure if that's a good plan. Remember that whoever's altering this world could do anything to screw you all over. If you ask me, we have to find another way to prepare your decks,"

"How the hell are we gonna do that?"

The virtual duelist grinned as a large array of Duel Monsters cards appeared next to him, "Duel Monsters database. Every card ever created in the history of Duel Monsters has been recorded in this virtual world, so whoever wants to make some last minute changes to their decks, they are at your disposal,"

Everyone gawked at the selection.

"Wow," Christina gave a long whistle, "Hot damn! This is good stuff,"

Siho nodded and turned to her, "Wait a minute. You won the duel against Kotako, didn't you get a prize?"

"Oh, that's right!" Christina snapped her fingers and pulled out a card from her deck, "She gave me a copy of Great Shogun Shien! Sure, it's special ability is related to the Six Samurai, but I don't really need it's effect, it's already a good monster to use,"

* * *

The hacker frowned, "So, you think you can help those brats out, you piece of crap? We'll see about that!".

Once again, the sound of keys being pressed echoed around the dark room as the hacker inserted code after code into the computer. After awhile, the hacker leaned back in the chair and smirked.

"You've dealt with my altered sprites before...let's see how you deal with _this_!"

* * *

As the others went through the card database, Noah felt something and snapped his head around, scanning the area.

I remember this sensation...I feel it every damn time something in this world goes corrupt. What happened this time?

"Hey, guys, it's Celeste!"

Noah turned his head to see the woman from Kotako's castle walk up to them, her hair blowing in the wind. Christina walked over to her, "Celeste, what's up? You coming with us?"

Celeste shook her head, "No, I'm not,"

"Then what's up?"

A dark giggle escaped Celeste's lips, "Duel...,"

"Chrissy, get away from her!"

Christina turned only to see Noah's hand just before he shoved her to the ground.

"HEY! NOAH, WHAT THE HELL?!"

Noah glared at Celeste, who began to undergo a strange transformation. Her hair grew considerably, her skin paled, and her pupils shrank a little to a level that could only be described as freaky.

Jaden stared, "What happened to her?"

"She's been corrupted," Noah held up the arm with his duel disk, "I'll handle this, so just stay back guys,"

Celeste cackled, "You've been against our kind for long enough, Noah. I'm different than your other opponents in this world, so don't think it'll be an easy task!"

_She knows about the other corrupted sprites... _Noah narrowed his eyes at her, _This is definitely the work of the jerk who's messing with this place, but not even the other corrupted programs knew that this was a virtual world! Something's wrong here...**very** wrong!_

"What's the matter, Noah? Scared?"

"Not in the least. I don't know what it is that you abominations want with my home, but I'll be damned to the hellfire if I let you have your way,"

Celeste smiled wickedly and activated her duel disk, "Duel me,"

Saw that coming! the group of young duelists thought together from the sidelines.

"Challenge accepted!" Noah snapped, activating his disk, "Let's go!"

**N: 4000  
C: 4000**

"Ladies first!" Celeste drew her card, "I summon Chaosrider Gustaph (1500/1600) in attack mode!"

A large, green-skinned humanoid on a demonic motorcycle appeared on the field, his giant blade glinting as his bike roared to life.

"Next, I play Allure of Darkness! This Spell allows me to draw two more cards," she drew her new cards, "But, there's a price. I need to remove one Dark-Attribute monster from my hand. If I can't, then my hand goes to the Graveyard,"

"I get the feeling you have a Dark monster in there, don't you?" Noah asked.

"Good instincts," Celeste slipped a card into her graveyard, "I end my turn,"

Noah drew his card, "First, I play the Spell card, Spring of Rebirth," he slipped the card into it's slot, "Next, I summon Inaba White Rabbit (700/500) in attack mode!"

A small white rabbit, along with a strange mechanical device in a black top hat appeared on the field.

"Go, Inaba White Rabbit!"

Jaden frowned, "Wait, why's he attacking? His monster's weaker than hers,"

Alexis tapped her arm, "It must have a special ability,"

"You're correct, Alexis!" Noah smiled, "Inaba White Rabbit can attack my opponent directly!"

The rabbit hopped around the field a few times before plowing into Celeste with it's strange weapon.

**N: 4000  
C: 3300**

Celeste grinned, "Hardly felt that,"

"I'll make sure you feel something next round then," Noah slipped a card into a slot, "I place one card facedown and I end my turn," he declared as Inaba left the field.

**N: 4500  
C: 3300**

"Why'd the monster leave the field?" Christina blinked in confusion.

"Yeah, why did he gain Life Points, too?" Siho added, also confused.

Khamille pointed to his Spell card, "Spring of Rebirth. Everytime a monster card returns to it's owner's hand from the field, the duelist gains 500 Life Points,"

"Okay, but why did the monster leave?"

Noah glanced at them, _They've obviously never seen Spirit monsters before..._

"My draw!" Celeste drew her card.

"Hold on, I activate my facedown card, Solemn Wishes!" Noah's facedown card revealed itself to show a maiden covered in beautiful light, "Now, everytime I draw a card, I gain 500 Life Points,"

Jordan turned to his cousin, "He sure does like to use cards to increase his Life Points, don't he?"

Alexis nodded, "Yeah,"

"I place two cards facedown, and now I activate my Chaosrider Gustaph's special ability. I can remove up to two Spell cards from my Graveyard from play, and for each one removed, he gains 300 points," Celeste reached into her Graveyard and pulled out Allure of Darkness, "Since I only have one, I'll remove that and let him go up 300 more attack points,"

Chaosrider Gustaph (1700/1500)

"Gustaph, mow him down!"

The demonic biker monster revved his motorbike and launched himself at Noah. The others watched as the biker circled Noah a few times before cleaving into him with his wicked-looking sword.

**N: 2800  
C: 3300**

"I'll place two cards facedown and I end my turn," Celeste finished up her turn, still smiling, "The weakness of your Spirit monsters is that the monsters you summon must return to your hand at the end of your turn, leaving you completely defenseless,"

Noah kept a calm look, "I know what weaknesses a Spirit deck holds, but I've spent enough time dueling to work out the kinks of my deck," he held up his duel disk, "You have no idea what power I hold in this deck, so don't get cocky!"

Christina turned to Bastion, "Spirit deck?"

Bastion folded his arms, "I've heard of Duel Monster cards that was created by Pegasus after he explored some of the ancient ruins of the world. Supposedly, he modeled them after the spirits and deities from each region he visited, but I never thought I'd get to see them,"

"It's my go!" Noah drew his card, "Since I just drew, I gain 500 Life Points thanks to Solemn Wishes,"

**N: 3300  
C: 3300**

"Next, I play Card Destruction! This Spell card forces us to send all the cards in our hands to the Graveyard, then we both draw the same amount of cards that we discarded," he held up his hand, "I have four cards,"

"Same here,"

The two duelists slipped both of their hands into their respective Graveyards, then they both drew four new cards.

"Since that happened, I gain 500 Life Points for each card I drew thanks to Card Destruction and Solemn Wishes," Noah reminded her.

**N: 5300  
C: 3300**

"Next, I summon the monster known as Flame Ruler (1500/1600),"

A whirlwind of fire erupted from the ground and from it, a dark-skinned man with blue hair, dressed in red robes stepped out, smoke rising from his body.

"Flame Ruler, light up that Gustaph!"

"Not so fast!" Celeste shouted as one of her facedown's revealed itself to show the rest a large game controller, "Activate Spell card, Enemy Controller! Now, I can use this Spell card's effect to change the battle position of one of your monsters, so Flame Ruler's attack has failed!"

Flame Ruler quickly knelt to one knee, his smoking arms across his chest

"Since Flame Ruler isn't a Spirit monster, he doesn't return to my hand, so at least I have some defense, especially since you just put him in defense mode," Noah looked at his hand, "I end my turn,"

Celeste drew her card, "I play the Spell card known as Brain Control! By giving up 800 of my Life Points, I can gain control of your Flame Ruler!"

**N: 5300  
C: 2500**

"Next, I summon Dark Crusader (1600/200) in attack mode, and I switch Flame Ruler into attack mode as well,"

The fiery monster rose to his feet as a skull-faced warrior in black armor, wielding a large sword appeared on the field.

"I activate Dark Crusader's special ability," Celeste plucked a card from her hand and slipped it into her Graveyard, "By sending one Dark-attribute monster to the Graveyard from my hand, I can increase Dark Crusader's attack points by 400 points!"

Flamer Ruler (1500/1600)  
Dark Crusader (2000/200)

"Attack him directly, you two! Show him our power!"

Noah braced himself as both his Flame Ruler and the Dark Crusader attacked him head on, taking a large chunk of his Life points with them.

**N: 1800  
C: 2500**

"Your move, boy,"

Noah drew his card and looked at his hand as his Life Points went up.

**N: 2300  
C: 2500**

"I sacrifice my Flame Ruler in order to summon my Spirit monster, Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi (2800/2900) in attack mode!"

Once again, Noah's field was covered in a blaze as a large, shirtless, muscular man with flaming hair appeared on the field, his hair dancing in the wind.

"Wait, doesn't that monster require _two_ sacrifices?" Jaden asked, "Noah, how were you able to do that?"

Noah grinned, "Flame Ruler's special ability. When I sacrifice him for a Fire-attribute monster Summoning, he counts as two sacrifices instead of one!"

Bastion clicked his tongue, "Interesting monster strategy,"

"Next, I equip him with the Spell known as Flaming Fist, which boosts his power by 200 points," Noah's monster held up his hand and almost instantly, a fireball engulfed the appendage, "Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi, burn Dark Crusader to a crisp!"

Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi (3000/2900)

Dark Crusader cried in pain as Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi's fist connected with his abdomen, obliterating him.

"Everytime Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi deals battle damage to you, during your next Draw Phase, you must discard your entire hand before you draw, and with Flaming Fist on him, everytime I deal battle damage, I gain 500 Life Points!"

**N: 2800  
C: 1100**

"I end my turn, and since that happens, Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi comes back and I gain _another_ 500 Life Points,"

**N: 3300  
C: 1100**

"YEAH! GO NOAH! KICK HER ASS!"

Noah stared at Celeste, _This girl's been altered and corrupted like the others, but she doesn't duel very differently, so what's the problem here besides her knowing about this world being virtual? If this jerk has the power to alter this world, why doesn't he give her stronger cards?_

Celeste threw her remaining cards into her Graveyard, then drew for her turn.

"I play Pot of Greed, which allows me to draw two more cards!" Celeste drew her new cards, "I play my facedown Spell card known as Soul Release! This card removes up to five cards from my Graveyard, so I remove from play my Rapid-Fire Magician (1600/1200), my Chaosrider Gustaph, my D.D. Assailant (1700/1600), my D.D. Warrior (1200/1000), and my D.D. Survivor (1800/200). Next, I summon Gren Maju Da Eiza (?/?) in attack mode!"

A wicked-looking demonic being appeared on the field with large, red wings and giant claws twitching madly.

"Now, for every card that I've removed from play, he gains 400 attack and defense points!"

Gren Maju Da Eiza (2400/2400)

"Next, I'll equip him with my Spell card, Big Bang Shot, to further increase his power by 400 attack points!"

Gren Maju Da Eiza (2800/2400)

"Attack him directly, Gren Maju!"

The demon roared and flew at Noah, raking it's claws deeply across his torso. Noah screamed and fell to his knees, holding his chest as his Life Points dropped dramatically.

**N: 500  
C: 1100**

"I end my turn, hehe,"

"Noah!"

"Crap, he's not looking too good!"

"C'mon, Noah, you can do it! Kick her corrupted ass!"

Wincing, Noah looked at his new friends out of the corner of his eyes, _If I lose her, who knows what'll happen to me? I can't let anything happen to these kids. If my home wasn't in danger like it is now, I wouldn't worry for them, but since it is..._

"Hurry up and take your turn, or else I'll count this as your forfeit, Noah!" Celeste barked at him, "I don't have all day!"

Still feeling the pain from Gren Maju Da Eiza, Noah picked himself up and drew his card.

**N: 1000  
C: 1100**

"Unless he has a strong monster card on him, he won't be able to beat her," Alexis breathed, "Come on, Noah,"

"The only strong monster he has is Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi, but he can't bring that unless he has a sacrifice!" Christina protested.

_Not exactly, Chrissy..._ Noah looked at his hand, _I have all that I need here to win now._

"I play the Ritual Spell, Shinato's Ark!"

A huge, wooden boat appeared in the sky above Noah's head, the large white banner fluttering in the sky.

"By sacrificing monsters who is Level 8 or higher, I can summon the most powerful monster in my entire deck!" Noah held up his Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi, "I offer this monster as a sacrifice to Shinato's Ark so that I may summon my supreme monster...Shinato, King of a Higher Plane (3300/3000)!!"

Noah's card became an orb of light and was soon swallowed by the large ark in the sky, then the ark itself exploded in a blinding flash of white light that covered the entire area. Everyone save for Noah shielded their eyes and watched as a beautiful being with bluish skin and six gold wings descended from the sky.

"Shinato, attack!"

The beautiful monster held up it's arms and soon, a ring of pulsating energy appeared between it's hands. Shinato looked down at Gren Maju Da Eiza and fired the spinning ring right at it, cutting into it and Celeste's Life Points effortlessly.

**N: 1000  
C: 600**

"I end my turn with that,"

"Yeah!" Siho pumped his arm, "Right on, Noah!"

Jaden looked up at Shinato, "Cool monster. It's got more attack points than the Blue Eyes White Dragon!"

_Heh, yeah..._ Noah looked at his Ritual monster, _Shinato really takes me back. I remember one time when I wasn't the person I am now. I put those guys through so much trouble, all because of that bastard! I'm just glad I was able to help them then. Well, I'm gonna use this guy to help these kids now. Don't let me down, Shinato!_

Celeste, still pissed at the loss of both her monster and Life Points, drew her card and smiled.

_His monster may be powerful, but that little victory of his will be short-lived, especially after I place this on the field!_ she looked up at him, "I place one monster facedown in defense mode and I end my turn!"

Noah drew his card, _That facedown of hers probably has an effect, but with **my** monsters effect, it won't matter..._

**N: 1500  
C: 600**

"Shinato, attack again and end this duel!"

Celeste laughed as Shinato launched another ring, "You're an idiot, boy! I have a monster in defense mode, a monster with an ability that'll send your monster packing! Reveal yourself, D.D. Warrior Lady (1500/1600)!"

Her monster flipped over to reveal an attractive woman in shining body armor just before Shinato's ring collided.

"Fool! When a monster does battle with my D.D. Warrior Lady, I can remove both my monster and the monster that attacked it from the game! You lose your all-powerful monster, Noah!"

Noah grinned, "And you lose this duel,"

"Eh?"

"Look at your duel disk," Noah instructed as both monsters disappeared from the field.

Celeste looked down and gasped.

**N: 1500  
C: 0**

"What the-?!"

Noah chuckled and wagged his finger, "Whenever Shinato destroys a defensive monster, I can deal my opponent damage that is equal to the destroyed monster's attack points. Simply put, you lost 1500 Life Points!"

Celeste fell to her knees, but as she did so, something strange began to happen. Her body began to crack and twitch, making her look like some kind of twisted clay puppet from a horror movie or something. The twitching got worse and worse, bits and pieces of herself falling to the ground. Everyone watched as she slowly, but disturbingly, reverted back to her normal self before falling facefirst onto the ground.

Noah deactivated his duel disk and looked up at the sky.

"Is she okay?"

"I dunno...go look,"

"I'm not gonna look, you go look!"

"Hell no!"

"Don't curse, Jordy!"

Noah looked at the virtual clouds above, _That's never happened before either. The corrupted files are usually destroyed, so what is going on here?_

* * *

"DAMMIT!" the hacker pounded on the keyboard, furious at Noah's victory, "It's bad enough that piece of crap makes my early work garbage, but it's even worse when he destroys one of my advanced creations!"

Taking a drag, the hacker glared at Noah, "You have got to go, you frickin' brat!"

* * *

**Kilnorc: Yeah, Noah dueled! I made his deck the Spirit deck from the VR arc of the original show, but with the Shinato cards with it because I thought he would like to use that card in his duels. I think I did this right...later ya'll!**


	22. Journey to the West

**Journey to the West  
**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX.**

**Kilnorc: Sorry for the... -checks last update time- ...5 months of waiting ya'll. But, if people can wait for LittleKuriboh's Abridged eps, you can wait for my GX series.**

* * *

"Where are they?"

"I don't know, sir!"

"Where the_ hell_ are they?!"

"I _don't_ know, sir!"

Kristerr rubbed his temples as he stood behind one of the technicians, "Find them, dammit, find them!"

Kairi watched from a fair distance. Just a little bit ago, she watched as her friends won a match against Lady Kotako, then get attacked by a corrupt sprite, who lost at the hands of the strange man who called himself Noah, and the, out of the clear blue sky, disappeared out of the game and off the virtual map.

The only duelist that could still be traced was Chazz and he was way off in a different part than the last location where his friends were last seen.

For now...

* * *

"I hate this place, I hate this place, I hate this place...," Chazz muttered as he tried to keep sand out of his eyes as he rode behind the Sand Gambler called Charlie, "Note to self, if I get invited to something and I find out that Jaden and the others are involved, turn around and run like hell,"

"Aw, don't be like dat, Boss!" one of his Ojamas pleaded, "Cheer up, it could be worse!"

"Yeah, nyuk nyuk, it could be worse!"

Chazz glared at them, "I'm in the middle of nowhere, I've lost my best cards, I'm stuck with you...and to top it off, I'm riding a giant chicken! How the hell could it get any worse?!"

The three Ojamas were quiet.

"Exactly!" Chazz turned back to Charlie, "Hey!" he shouted over the wind, "Where are we going?!"

Charlie looked back at him, "We're headed to the Hikarian Plateau!" he called back, "It's the best place for you to be right now, my friend, and it's closer than anything else, so we're headed there!"

"Where is it?"

"Just wait a minute!" Charlie slowed his Niwatori bird down and came to a halt, "Just wait for this little storm to pass by and we'll have a clear view of the Plateau itself,"

Chazz pulled hard on the reins of his Niwatori to bring the bird to a halt, and it did come to a stop, but in the end, Chazz found himself being tossed onto the sand by the giant bird, obviously not caring for his way of treating it.

The black-haired duelist spat the virtual sand out of his mouth, "Stupid chicken," he glared at the Niwatori, "Try that again and I'll introduce you to a Colonel and his eleven herbs and spices!"

Charlie looked at him like he was crazy.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU LOOKING AT, PRETTY BOY!?"

The Sand Gambler looked away, "A lunatic," he muttered under his breath.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!"

"Nothing, nothing," Charlie waved him off, "Just trying to pass time 'til this little breeze blows over,"

Chazz snorted and looked ahead as he dusted himself off. There was a large gathering of sand ahead of them, but it wasn't a major sandstorm like one would see in real life or even in some sci-fi films. There was enough wind and sand to block their vision, but there wasn't enough to cause a fatal problem...probably.

"How long do we have to wait?"

Charlie shrugged, "Depends,"

* * *

"Oh, that is _so_ cool!"

"It's like something from that old show...what's the one I'm thinking of? The one with the door that comes out of nowhere and a bright lights behind it?"

"_Quantum Leap_?"

"There we go,"

Christina and Siho watched as one of Noah's virtual doors disappeared from sight after the rest of the group stepped through. A short time before, they were in the dark forest outside Kotako's palace, then they passed through a glowing hallway with blue lights outlining the walls, ceiling and floor, and now they stood out in a large grassland area, somewhat similar to the Sogen Valley where Lady Kotako lived. This was more of a normal grasslands area with rolling hills of beautiful green grass and small buildings dotting the terrain, with people tending to what looked like crops.

"You know what this looks like?" Christina thought aloud, tapping her chin.

"Venice?" Alexis answered, "Something like in Italy or Greece, maybe?"

"Nah," Christina shook her head, "More like the Shire or Rohan from _Lord of the Rings_...,"

Everyone turned and gave her a look.

She turned away, "Excuse me, but my dad's a nut about that series and I find that it's a very good trilogy, so bite me for making references!"

"If we were to bite you for making references, you'd be covered in bite marks and bandages," Siho muttered, rolling his eyes, "Seriously, be real for once, Chrissy,"

Noah rubbed his eyes and shook his head, "Well, if you guys are done being idiots for a few seconds, I can tell you where we are,"

"It's_ not_ Rohan? Because, seriously, I'm half expecting the Rohirrim to come charging by chasing Uruk-Hai and other Orcs-MMPH!" Christina was cut off by Siho clamping a hand around her mouth.

"Thank you, Siho,"

"No problem, now tell us where the hell we are,"

Noah took a breath and looked around, "This beautiful countryside that you see is called the Kazemi Plains, Realm of Lady Midori, who is also the next Game Marshal," he shot a look to Bastion, "I'm warning you man, she's tough, you sure you don't wanna look at the database to improve your deck?"

Bastion chuckled and shook his head, "You underestimate me, Noah, I'm quite confident in my deck's ability and the formula it's based on...if I alter now, I'd throw into complete chaos,"

Khamille leaned over to Jaden, "Bet you a rare card he's the next one to lose,"

* * *

"Oh, you have to be kiddin' me!"

After the sandstorm disappeared, Chazz and Charlie were greeted with a magnificent sight. Ahead of them was a very large plateau and if he squinted hard enough, Chazz could see something sparkling up at the very top.

"This is the Hikarian Plateau?" Chazz turned to his guide, "It's a friggin' hunk of rock!"

"A hunk of rock, yes," Charlie nodded slowly, "But that's also where you need to go, my friend,"

"What the heck is up there?"

"Someone who can help you in your troubles. We just need to get up there,"

Chazz looked at him in disbelief, then pointed to the formation, "Get up that?! Hello! There's no road or anything leading up there and I'm sure as hell ain't going to risk my life riding this walking bucket dinner!" he kicked his Niwatori in the sides, "Can these things even fly?!"

"Not that I know of, but there are other ways,"

"Like what?"

"Getting up that trail," Charlie nodded to the base of the plateau, "Just like everyone else,"

"Trail? What trail?" Chazz pointed to the rock, "There's-,"

"Look closer, and you'll see it...," Charlie clicked his tongue and his Niwatori trotted forward, "Or if your eyes are that bad, just follow me,"

Chazz just stood there, looking very annoyed as he watched his suppose guide move towards the Hikarian Plateau. He scoffed and ran a hand through his head of black hair, "This guy's just yanking my chain...why'd I even follow him?!"

"Uh, Boss?" Ojama Yellow tapped him on the shoulder, "Looky!"

The duelist waved the Ojama off, "Get away from me, you're not helping my mood!"

"But boss-!"

"I SAID GET AWAY!" Chazz turned and tried to shoo the Ojama's off, but if he accomplished anything, it was making himself look like a jackass to anyone who could be watching him.

His Ojamas darted back and forth, avoiding their boss' flailing arms.

"He needs to work on his anger issues,"

"Got dat right,"

"Boss, calm down!"

After awhile, Chazz found himself leaning against his Niwatori, tuckered out after trying to hit his Ojamas. As he leaned against the giant bird, he noticed that Charlie was not only still at the Plateau, but he could see that he was actually walking up the mountain.

His eye twitched, "There...is...a...trail?"

Ojama Yellow nodded as he floated near his head, "Remember boss? Charlie said that there was one! You might wanna hurry up or you'll be left behind!"

Why couldn't you three have been taken instead of my dragons? Chazz thought bitterly as he climbed onto his Niwatori. He kicked the bird hard in the ribs, "C'mon, Drumsticks, get moving you stupid bird!"

Ojama Yellow turned to his brothers, "Chazz just named his chicken,"

"It's a Niwatori, Yellow," Ojama Black corrected him.

"Whatever...,"

"C'mon, already, move it!" Chazz barked, kicking the bird again.

Apparently, the Niwatori bird had had enough of abuse from Chazz and started to buck. Chazz yelled as he held onto the bird's saddle for dear life, but in the end, he found himself being thrown back and landing on the desert floor again. But the bad karma to the Niwatori didn't end there, because the bird's saddle got caught on Chazz's shoe and before the duelist could realize this, the bird took off at a high speed, following Charlie and his fellow bird up and towards the Plateau, dragging poor Chazz Princeton behind him.

"I HATE THIS PLACE!!"

* * *

"This place is beautiful!" Alexis breathed as she and her friends followed Noah down a cobble path, "It's about time we find a Game Marshal in a livable area...,"

"No rugged mountains,"

'No dark forests and palaces,"

"Where are the orcs, where is the Rohirrim?!"

"Chrissy, is there an off switch on that reference-spewing mouth of yours?"

"Nope,"

"Damn, we're stuck with a Konata wannabe,"

"Oi, don't mock Konata, she's epic!"

As the two friends bickered, Noah and the others caught sight of a beautiful castle ahead of them in the distance. They were near the ocean, they could tell by the virtual smell of salty sea air and the faint sound of ocean waves in the distance. The castle itself lay on top of a cliff.

"Welcome to the home of Lady Midori, Game Marshal, ruler of the Kazemi Plains and Priestess of the High Breeze,"

The group of duelists looked in awe at the large castle ahead of them.

Christina turned to the others, "Seriously, where are the Orcs?"

"Shut up, Chrissy!" they shouted together.

* * *

**Kilnorc: I think I'm getting back into the groove here...but I can't guarantee anything, so please bear with me and be patient. Thank you!**


	23. Into the Realm of the Marshals

**Into the Realm of the Marshals  
**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX.**

* * *

"Okay, so thanks to Noah, they not only got away from a dueling sprite gone bad, but they're in the immediate area of their next Game Marshal challenge?" Kairi asked aloud, looking at the monitor, "That's good, right?"

Kristerr nodded, "Very good. Not sure what the hell is going on, exactly, but if this kid Noah keeps acting like an area-hopping Good Samaritan, then they should all be able to get to where they need to go, beat who they need to beat and then be able to leave the game before any more damage can be done to them. Any news on the Princeton kid?" he called out to another technician?"

"We've finally got a lock on him, sir!"

"Where is he?"

"Hikarian Plateau!"

Kristerr blinked, "How the hell did he get there?"

"What's the Hikarian Plateau?" Kairi asked.

"I don't know, sir, but he's there and he's drawing closer to the Marshal's residence,"

"What's the Hikarian Plateau?" Kairi asked again, getting a little annoyed that she wasn't being answered.

Kristerr rubbed his chin, "If he's he's smart and stays there, he'll be able to hook back up with the others in time. They all need to get to the Marshals and have a duel with them before they can beat the game and leave, so if he stays there like a good little boy, they'll catch up to them and-,"

"HELLO!!" Kairi suddenly screamed into his ear, making him yelp and plant a hand over his ringing ear, "WHAT. IS. THE. HIKARIAN. PLATEAU?!"

One of the technicians leaned over to their co-worker, "Never ignore a woman, that don't like to be ignored,"

"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock,"

"Alright, spill, Kristerr, what's the Hikarian Plateau?"

The male Tong shook his head, still wincing, "Well, if you promise not to scream at me again, I'll tell you. The Hikarian Plateau is the home of one of the Game Marshals. His name is Jake and I guess you could call him the Lord of Light,"

"What kinda deck does he use?"

"If I remember correctly...," Kristerr closed his eyes and tapped his head in thought, "Light-Attribute monsters, I believe,"

"Light monsters?" Kairi tilted her head, "Like that guy from the Battle City Tournament years back? The one who used Light monsters?" she scratched her head, "Wish I knew what his name was...,"

"I know who you're talking about, so don't worry," Kristerr waved her off, "But yeah, he works with Light, like that guy,"

"Did Khamille base Jake off that guy?"

Kristerr shrugged, "Hell if I know what my sister has running through her head when she made these guys...,"

* * *

"C'mon, I get my ass dragged up this hunk of rock and you're saying that I can't even get inside?"

"Chazz,"

"Stuff it, pretty boy!" Chazz snapped at his guide and turned back to the guards standing in front of him, "I'm here to see the Game Marshal that lives up here and if you don't let me through, then I'm just gonna have to bust on through, got it, Metal-Heads?!"

The guards just stood there, barring them passage into the huge palace.

"Sonsofa-!" Chazz pulled his foot back, "See how you like this!"

His Ojamas turned away, This won't end well...

"Say goodbye to your family jewels!" Chazz rammed his foot right in between one of the guards...and began to immediately regret it. He pulled his foot back and began to hop around, holding said foot, "SONOFA-!"

Charlie slapped himself in the face and shook his head, "Idiot...," he sighed and turned to the guards, "I'm sorry for my idiotic companion, it's just that it's very important that we see the Game Marshal. My friend here has become lost after losing a duel from one of the Game Marshals and-,"

The guards stepped away, "Go on inside, he's waiting for you,"

Charlie blinked, "Oh really? Huh...go figure," he looked back at Chazz, "Guess they just needed to hear what happened to you before letting us pass?"

Chazz glared at him, holding his foot, "You couldn't have mentioned that sooner?!"

"I didn't know!"

The three Ojama Brothers floated after them.

"Guess the boss should've used his brain instead of his brawn,"

"Yeah, but you gotta remember, this is_ Chazz_,"

"Right, most of everything he's got _is_ brawn!"

* * *

"So, Lady Midori lives here, huh?"

"No, Siho, she lives in the castle NEXT to this one,"

"...is that sarcasm I detect in your voice, Chrissy?"

"...could be,"

Bastion rubbed the bridge of his nose as he quickened his pace to join Noah, "Are you sure we've got to stick together? Surely they can wait outside while I duel?" he asked, jerking a thumb to Chrissy and Siho.

Noah grinned, "And leave us to deal with them? Sorry, Misawa, we're all in this together, so we all suffer together,"

_Damn!_ Bastion snapped his fingers as they passed into the castle,_ Well, this shouldn't be too hard. My deck has been thought out and prepared well, I stand a good chance against her. Now, how do we get granted an audience with this Priestess?_

* * *

"I FRICKIN' HATE THIS PLACE!" Chazz rounded a corner, his three Ojama's behind him and a whole flock of Winged Kuriboh coming in close behind them, "OF ALL THE MONSTERS IN DUEL MONSTERS WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE THOSE?!" he looked back at the Kuriboh, "IT JUST HAD TO BE _HIS_ MONSTER!"

* * *

"ACHOO!"

"You okay, Jaden?" Alexis asked him.

"Yeah...think so,"

Chrissy pulled back on his shirt, making him stop abruptly before looking him over, "Oh my God...,"

"What are you doing, Chrissy?"

"He sneezed, he's sick and that can only mean one thing!" Chrissy pointed at Jaden dramatically, "He's been infected by...a computer virus!"

Everyone stopped and stared at her.

She looked at all her friends, "Bad joke?"

"YES!"

"Aw...everyone's a critic," Chrissy pouted, _Kinda weird though, sneezing in a video game...then again, this **whole** thing is weird!_

* * *

"Boss, in here, quick!"

Chazz skidded to a halt and slipped inside a room opened by his Ojamas and slammed the door shut behind him. He held his breath and closed his eyes as he waited for the sound of Kuriboh coos and fluttering wings passed by and disappeared.

"They're gone...," he gave a huge sigh of relief, "I'm safe...finally...,"

"Uh...not quite, Boss," Ojama Yellow tapped his head, "Open your eyes,"

"Oh God, now what?" Chazz slowly opened an eye and when he saw what Ojama Yellow was referring to, both his eyes popped open and all color drained from his face, "Aw, crap...,"

Directly in front of him was a massive, white dragon with big, white feathers on it's upper body, blood red claws, a massive wingspan and a set of whiskers that reminded him of Chinese and Japanese dragons from myth and legends. The dragon seemed to finally notice Chazz and began to walk towards him.

"Whoa, whoa!" Chazz held up his hands, "Just hold on, big fella!"

The Ojama's sought refuge behind him, "I don't think it's listening, Boss!"

"Y-Yeah!"

"We should get outta here...,"

The dragon kept coming closer and closer, but Chazz was scared so badly, he couldn't move from the spot. Just when it seemed that the dragon was going to eat him, Chazz suddenly felt himself falling backward. A strong hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him through the now open doorway, out of harm's away of being eaten. As he tried to reorient himself, his savior slammed the door shut and turned to him, glaring daggers.

"I don't know what you were doing in there, but don't you dare touch her, you hear me?!"

Chazz snapped out of his daze and looked at the one responsible for saving him. The boy was a bit older than him, or at least he looked like he did, and he had a style similar to Sanji from _One Piece_, except he had purple hair instead of blonde hair (and luckily no curly eyebrow). He wore a gray shirt, jeans and a green jacket...and a not too happy look on his face.

"Wait, did you say her?" Chazz pointed at the door, "That thing is a female?!"

"Of course she is!" the boy snapped, "Now, what the hell were you doing in there?!"

"I was hiding from a rabid herd of Winged Kuriboh, you dork!" Chazz shot back at him, "I didn't know there was a frickin' dragon behind those doors, because if I had, I would've kept on going until I found a better room to hide in!"

The boy glared at him and Chazz glared back at him.

"What's your name?"

"What's _your_ name?"

"..."

"..."

"Well?"

Chazz snorted, "My name is Chazz Princeton, ya loser and I'm here to see the Game Marshal! Where the hell is the loser, anyway, I gotta talk to him?"

The boy grinned, "Is that so? Well, Chazz Princeton, I know where he is. If you want me to, I'll take you to him,"

"Oh really?"

"Really really,"

"Okay then," Chazz crossed his arms over his chest, "Where is he?"

"Right in front of you," the boy waved a little at him, the grin growing a little bit, "My name's Jake, nice to meetcha,"

Chazz facefaulted, "...ya gotta be kiddin' me...,"

"I am the Lord of Light, and welcome to my palace," Jake jerked his head to the door behind him, "You already know Divinia, my prized dragon,"

"That thing has a name!"

"That _thing_ is a friend of mine, so even if you can't show a bit of respect towards me, show a little to her," Jake said quietly in a tone that told Chazz he'd better behave or else, "Now, Chazz Princeton, what can I do for you?"

* * *

"I can't believe we got in,"

"I can't believe we're gonna see Midori just like that!"

"I can't believe it's not butter!"

_WHAP!_

"Ow!"

"Be quiet, Chrissy, or they'll think you're the idiot of the group,"

"They wouldn't be too wrong about that,"

"I heard that!"

Bastion rolled his eyes as he and the others entered a large, beautiful area behind the palace. It was a huge, lush and green garden atop of the cliff that the building itself was built on. It was like something out of a storybook, or that's at least what Chrissy and Alexis thought. To some of the others, they were just plants. After wandering through the garden a bit, they came to an open area where a young woman seemed to be waiting for them. She had short, red hair that not only ended in curls, but it stopped just short of her shoulders. She wore a light green T-shirt with a dark neckerchief tied around her neck (no duh), and a white, ankle-length skirt with an assortment of jewelry on her body.

She smiled as they came into the area, "I take it this is the group of duelists that fought both the Dragon Prince and Lady Kotako?"

Bastion nodded, "Lady Midori, I presume?"

"God, I hope so,"

"Chrissy, hush!"

Midori smiled, "I take it you are here for a duel then?"

Again, Bastion nodded.

"I see," Midori turned around and looked out at the ocean, "What do you think of my garden? It's so beautiful here, I spend much of my time alone here, tending to the flowers and pretty things. It's also a wonderful view spot...in fact," she looked over her shoulder, "This is a perfect spot to look out at my brother's territory,"

Bastion raised an eyebrow, "Your brother?"

Midori giggled, "You'll meet him soon enough, I'm sure. Now," she turned all the way around, "Do you wish to keep talking or do you wish to duel like you've been wanting to for who knows how long?"

"I'd prefer a duel," Bastion raised his arm, showing off his Duel Disk, "Ready whenever you are, Midori!"

The Lady Marshal giggled again as a bright green light shined all around her. The others had to cover their eyes a bit to protect them from the light, but when it died away, they saw a noticeable change. Midori now wore Duel Armor, just like the last Game Marshals, except she wore a skirt of metal plate armor around her waist. All her armor was light green.

"Wow," Chrissy blinked a few times, "She wears that well...,"

Alexis nodded, "Only thing she's not wearing is a duel disk,"

"That will come, soon enough," Midori closed her eyes and clasped her hands together, "Bequeath unto me, great ones of the land, so I may win the duel at hand. Surrender to me, the power of thine, great lords of sun and sky!" Midori suddenly shot her right arm high into the air and sure enough, a bright, white glow appeared around her limb.

"One session of Klaatu, Verata, Nikto later...," Chrissy murmured as the light died down to reveal a light green duel disk. It sort of resembled a cloud, but the tray on the disk reminded everyone of the old Battle City duel disks from years back.

Midori lowered her arm, "Let's begin, shall we?"

* * *

**Kilnorc: HOLY crap, I actually updated this! It must be the end of the world or something! lol...thanks for bearing with me folks. As a special treat, here's the title for the duel ahead...**

**Breaking Wind**

**Kilnorc: I'm an odd guy, but THAT's funny! Oh, to those who read his stuff, I referenced Phantom 1's OC from his Avatar in here again...also referenced a movie or two in here, hehe. One in particular is my fave  
**


	24. Breaking Wind Part One

**Breaking Wind Part One  
**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX**

* * *

"Looks like they're about to begin the duel against the next Game Marshal, Mr Tong!"

Kristerr plopped himself into a chair as Kairi pushed her own wheeled chair over to him in front of a large monitor, "Alright, let's see how they do...,"

"Hopefully, they'll win this one, too,"

"I don't know, it depends on how Bastion does. He's a bright kid and a good duelist, but the further they go down the list of Game Marshals, the more difficult the duels will become,"

"Ouch,"

"Mhm...,"

* * *

The mysterious Hacker watched the monitor closely, eyes glued to the coming duel, cigarette slowly burning away in an ashtray nearby.

"Alright, Brainiac, let's see how you do against a chick. As for you," the hacker glanced at Noah in the watching group of bystanders, "Get ready to say goodbye, punk!"

* * *

"Ready, Lady Midori?"

"Of course,"

"Then let us duel!"

**B: 4000  
M: 4000**

"Ladies first," Bastion gave a short nod to Midori as they both drew their hands, "If you wish,"

"My, such a gentleman!" Midori smiled and drew her sixth card, "Let me see...I place one card facedown on the field and then I summon Soldier of Mist Valley (1700/300) in attack mode before ending my turn," she declared as a well-built, fearsome looking warrior wielding twin blades and a pair of large, blue wings on his back appeared on the field.

"My turn then," Bastion drew his sixth card, _Hmm...I've never seen anything ilke that Mist Valley monster,_ he glanced up at the Soldier, _I have no idea if that has a special effect or not. To make things worse, the card she placed down is most likely a Trap card. I must think of my first move carefully, or it could set of a chain reaction that could prove devastating._

Khamille leaned over to Chrissy, "He takes his sweet time, don't he?"

"Shh, he's thinking,"

Alexis turned to Khamille, "What'd you say Midori's deck was?" she asked quietly.

"Wind-Attribute monsters," Khamille replied in the same quiet tone, "With Bastion having Earth-Attribute monsters, this will be interesting,"

"Alright, I've decided!" Bastion declared, slapping a card onto his duel disk, "I place this monster facedown in Defense Mode and I play the Spell card, Pot of Greed, which allows me to draw two more cards!" he drew said cards, "I end my turn,"

Jaden folded his arms, _Bastion's usually got more than just one card out on the field, even on his first turn._ _Either he doesn't have anything good, or he's being really careful about this. Then again, after Chazz lost his duel and got blasted to who knows where, I don't blame him!_

Midori drew her card, "Next, I summon Wind User of Mist Valley (400/800) in attack mode," she paused as a small, pea-cock looking bird appeared alongside her Soldier, "Next, I activate it's Special Ability!"

Bastion raised an eyebrow, "Which is...what, may I ask?"

"If both of us have five or more cards in our hands, which we both do, we each have to send cards from our hands to the Graveyard until we both have four cards left in our hands," Midori explained as she plucked a card out of her hand and slipped it into the Graveyard, "I'm done with mine, how about yours?"

Bastion looked down at his hand, _I'll have to get rid of two cards because of her monster's effect, so which ones? Hmm..._ he scanned his hand, _I can save those for later...I guess I have no choice, really._

"Having trouble with choosing?" Midori asked, looking concerned, "I'm sorry for putting you through that, I really am,"

That threw him, and everyone else off. What kind of duelist apologizes for a small thing like a monster's ability? They just didn't see that very often.

"Uh...no problem at all, really," Bastion grabbed two cards from his hand and slipped it into the Graveyard of his duel disk, "Is that all you want to do?"

"Actually, there's another special ability I'd like to activate,"

"Oh really?"

"Yep, and it's the ability of my Young Roc of the Mist Valley (400/600), which is that if it's sent to the Graveyard from my hand, I can Special Summon it to my field," Midori waited as a small, bird-like creature with a skull with horns appeared on her side of the field.

Bastion chuckled, "Impressive. I may not know much about this Mist Valley, but you used one creature to summon another creature by use of an ability," he nodded, "Not a bad strategy,"

"Aw, thank you!" Midori laughed and rubbed the back of her head, "I do what I can, you know! Speaking of which, it's still my turn. Soldier of Mist Valley, attack his facedown monster with Double Kukri Slash!" she ordered, pointing to the facedown monster card.

_Hmph! Too bad for her my monster's got more defense points than her monster's attack points!_ Bastion thought as his monster flipped over to reveal Gamma the Magnet Warrior (1500/1800), "I'm afraid you just lost a few Life Points,"

**B: 4000  
M: 3900**

"Maybe, but I'm afraid you just lost your monster," Midori pointed to Gamma as it disappeared from the field and reappeared in Bastion's hand, "I am SO sorry, but my Soldier's special ability allows me to return my opponent's monster back to their hand, as long as it wasn't destroyed in battle,"

Alexis whistled quietly, "Gave up a few points to get Bastion's field empty...,"

"Wind User! Young Roc! Attack him directly!"

Bastion barely had anytime to defend himself as the winged monsters flew right into him, knocking a fair amount of points away.

**B: 3200  
M: 3900**

"...and she just knocked points off Bastion," Jordan finished his cousin's loud thought, "She does know what she's doing!"

Khamille nudged him hard, "Of course she does, I designed her!" she hissed, "Give me some credit here, Rhodes!"

"Alright, fine! Just, don't do that again!" Jordan winced, rubbing his stomach, "Geez...,"

"I end my turn,"

Bastion drew his new card, Interesting tactic...have to admit, even I didn't see that coming, but since I know what she could be capable of, it gives me a new strategy. However, before I do anything, there's still the matter of that facedown card there, he eyed said card on the field, "I play the spell, Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your facedown card!"

"Oh, rats!" Midori pouted a little as her card, the Trap known as Compulsory Evacuation Device, was revealed and blasted into smithereens.

"I'm not done yet," Bastion held up three cards, "I offer these three monsters from my hand! Alpha, Gamma and Beta, the Magnet Warriors to the Graveyard in order to summon a monster that far surpasses your Mist Valley creatures!" he slipped the three cards into his slot and soon after, a very familiar monster appeared before him, "Behold! Valkyrion the Magna Warrior (3500/3850)!"

"YES!" Chrissy pumped her arm and slugged Siho hard in the shoulder, "Never count Misawa out! Boy can find anything out of any situation!"

Siho rubbed his arm, "Calm down, you act like you've never seen a monster that strong before...geez!"

Midori stared at the new monster, "Ooooh...pretty armor,"

"Er...thank you, I think. Now, Valkyrion, attack Wind User!"

* * *

Kairi shut her eyes as Valkyrion demolished Wind User, "Ow...that's gotta hurt!"

Kristerr shook his head, "Maybe, but it's not over with yet. I think Midori's about to come out and show her claws,"

"Huh?"

"Just watch...,"

* * *

**B: 3200  
M: 800**

"YES! YES! YES, YES, YES, YES!" Chrissy bounced, hyped up on her friend's progress, "GO BASTION!"

Noah raised an eyebrow, "Sure is a hyper little thing, isn't she?"

"You should see her when she duels...,"

"I end my turn,"

"Alrighty," Midori drew her card, "Hmm...oh, I know! I'll play Spring of Rebirth, which allows me to get 500 Life Points if a monster returns to one's hand,"

"I think she's copying you, Noah,"

"Shaddup,"

"Next, I'll play this Spell card, Back to Square One!"

Jaden's eyes widened, "Not good,"

"What's wrong with that card?" Jordan asked his cousin, "Lexi?"

Alexis folded her arms, "Back to Square One is a decent card if you learn when to use it correctly. The controller of the card has to get rid of one card from their hand and that allows them to send an opponent's monster to go back to the top of their deck,"

"So, that means if she does that...,"

"...Bastion's powerhouse offense and defense goes buh-bye," Alexis nodded, "Since his Magnet Warriors are in the Graveyard, he won't be able to bring them back out into the game, which means he can't bring back Valkyrion!"

Sure enough, Midori slipped a card from her hand into her disk and seconds later, Valkyrion went from the field and back to his deck.

"Sorry! I had to do that, Bastion, but I hope you don't hate me for that! I also hope you don't hate me because I got more Life Points,"

**B: 3200  
M: 1300**

Bastion shook his head slowly, _This girl is oddly polite for a duelist...smart though, I'll grant her that. I must think of something or else I just may lose this duel and disappear like Chazz!_

"Next, I summon Shaman of Mist Valley (1200/1200) to the field in attack mode," Midori paused as a young woman in black leggings and a white loincloth, head covered by a black hood appeared on the field, unseen eyes staring ahead, "But before I attack, I activate her special ability!"

"And those who didn't see that coming, raise your hand!"

"Shut up, Siho,"

"Once per turn, I return one monster I control, except Shaman, back to my hand. Normally, this only increases her attack power by 500, but with Spring of Rebirth on the field, I also gain that many Life Points again. Goodbye, Young Roc, you helped me out enough already,"

**B: 3200  
M: 1800**

Shaman of Mist Valley (1700/1200)

_She has two monsters with 1700 attack points each and I'm left with no defense what so ever! _Bastion looked at his deck_, I can't use Valkyrion...damn!_

"Shaman, attack Bastion Directly!"

**B: 1500  
M: 1800**

"Oh man, this isn't good," Noah stuffed his hands into his pockets, "One more attack like that and Bastion's done for,"

Khamille looked hard at Midori, "That's true, but I don't think you have to worry about that just yet, guys,"

"Why's that, Kham?"

"Because I know how Midori duels and everything...owning someone in a duel isn't exactly her style,"

"What do you mean by-?"

"I end my turn!"

Everyone stared at the duel as Khamille's prediction came true.

"Don't ever doubt the Creation Goddess, boys and girls," Khamille smirked, "Let that be a lesson to ya,"

Shaman of Mist Valley (1200/1200)

"I gotta say, Bastion, given the reputation you and your friends have, I'm a little disappointed," Midori put her hands on her hips, "I just about beat you there,"

"But you didn't," Bastion shot back, "How come?"

"Well, for one thing, I'm not an asshole. Secondly, I want to see why you got your reputation, Bastion, I want to see your strength and if I beat you now, I can't see that, so I'm going to cut you some slack,"

"Some slack?" Bastion repeated, sounding a little offended, "I don't need charity, Midori, I'm a duelist, I need a challenge!"

"Well, there's one right in front of you, but you don't seem to be doing so hot, now are you?"

"If it was so easy, it wouldn't be called a challenge!"

On the sidelines, Chrissy nudged Siho lightly, "It's kinda like verbal tennis or something, don't ya think?"

"I don't care, they're both nerds,"

WHAP!

"Ow!"

* * *

**Kilnorc: Okay, guess I'm making it a multi-part chapter again folks, lol...seems to fit with most Game Marshal duels, eh? Well, since I won't be on later after this, I just wanna say that this is the LAST update for the year 2008 and that I want to wish each and every one of you a VERY Happy New Year! Another year gone, but here comes another year of fanfic'ing, folks, so stay tuned! BTW, I hope I got the duel right so far, I'm doing my best to keep track, even on paper -looks at notes-**

**HAPPY NEW YEAR FOLKS! CYA IN 2009!  
**


	25. Breaking Wind Part Two

**Breaking Wind Part Two**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX**

_**On the last chapter of GX Heroes: Cyber Battles, Bastion found himself in a duel against the next Game Marshal, Lady Midori, a talented duelist with monsters of not only Wind-Attribute, but they had the ability or had some abilities that related to returning cards from the field to either the owners hands or their decks. With one of his most powerful monsters out of the game, Bastion NEEDS to figure out a strategy, or he will lose and quite possibly disappear like Chazz did when he lost.**_

_**Cheer Bastion on, fangirls, he's gonna need it!  
**_

* * *

**B:1500  
M: 1800**

Shaman of Mist Valley (1200/1200)  
Soldier of Mist Valley (1700/300)

"C'mon, Bastion, you can pull it together!" Christina called out to her friend, "He will, he will, rock you! Why? Because he's got an Earth Deck, Midori, he's gonna bury you alive!"

Alexis turned away, feeling slightly embarassed, "I'm Bastion's friend too, but why does Chrissy have to go off like that? I don't think it helps him, I think it just makes him feel awkward,"

Siho shrugged, "Chrissy is Chrissy,"

Jordan looked at the field, I know they're friends and they cheer each other on, but why is she cheering so much for him? his eyes narrowed, Don't tell me they're...? No! No way, they can't be!

"Please, take your turn, Bastion,"

The Ra Yellow grunted as he drew his Valkyrion from the top of his deck, _I can't believe she's giving me a handicap! What does this say about me as a duelist? It's as if she's saying I need help to duel, but I don't need help to duel!_ he looked at his hand, _Same ones as before...I was going to save this one later, but I don't think I have a choice here!_

"I summon Magnet Warrior Omega Minus (1900/600) in attack mode!" Bastion declared as he slapped one of his three cards onto the field, watching as an impressive looking magnet monster came on the field, crackling with energy.

"Yes!" Chrissy pumped her arm, "Valkyrion may be out of the game for now, but Bastion's got more than that in his arsenal!"

Bastion smiled, You bet I do, Chrissy! he pointed at his opponent's side of the field, "Omega Minus! Destroy Shaman of Mist Valley!"

The Magnet Warrior nodded and leapt straight at the strange female shaman, obliterating her on contact, dealing a decent amount of damage to Midori's Life Points.

**B: 1500  
M: 1100**

Jordan frowned and turned to his cousin, "I don't get it. Sure, he got the Life Point lead because of that move, but why didn't he go for the other monster?"

"Because," Chrissy pointed to Soldier of Mist Valley, "If he blasted that guy, Omega Minus would've gone back to his hand and left him wide open for another attack that could finish him off and make him lose the duel," she explained, "Gotta remember, Jordan, Duel Monsters isn't about points, it's about strategy and that is Bastion's area of expertise!"

Bastion could feel himself blush a little, "Uhm...thank you, Chrissy!" he cleared his throat, "I appreciate those kind words...," he looked at his hand, _No doubt she'll use her monster to make my monster go back to my hand and leave me open at the cost of a few meager Life Points...and she probably has another monster waiting in the wings to finish me off! Was hoping to save this for a tougher monster, but she's got my back to the wall!_

"I play the Spell, Smashing Ground!" he declared, slipping the card into his disk, "This card destroys one of my opponent's monster with the highest defense, but since you only have one...," he grinned, "I suppose you know what comes next?"

Midori held her arm over her eyes as a giant fist descended from the sky and plowed right into her Soldier of Mist Valley, destroying him in a blinding flash of light.

"I end my turn!" Bastion looked at his deck, _With Valkyrion in my hand, I'm almost resorting to Top Decking here because of her deck and her strategy! I need something to fully turn the tables around, because based off what I know about her so far, she'll come up with a way to get rid of Omega Minus this next turn!_

"My turn," Midori drew her card, "It seems that my gift of a handicap to you paid off, Bastion. However, if you're truly wanting a challenge and don't want me to hold back in this duel, then I'll accomodate you. Just don't say that I never did you any favors, alright?"

Bastion nodded.

"Alright. Now, I play the Spell card, Cost Down! This allows me to downgrade all the monsters in my hand by two levels, as long as I discard one card from my hand," she slipped a card into her Graveyard, "Next, I summon Enforcer of the Mist Valley (2100/1600) in attack mode!"

_I knew it! She **did** bring out a monster!_ Bastion grit his teeth as a very large, winged human with clawed hands appeared on the field, _Wasn't expecting **that**, however...this is going to hurt..._

"Enforcer, tear into Magnet Warrior Omega Minus!"

* * *

"Oh God, I can't watch this!" Kairi covered her eyes with her hands, "Lemme know when it's over,"

Kristerr grimaced as Bastion's monster bit the dust, causing his Life Points to drop closer to the zero point, "The Battle Phase is over, Kairi, but unless Bastion can come up with either a good strategy or a miracle, he's gonna lose this...," he turned around and addressed the technicians, "Just in case this happens, I want you all to do what you can to keep tabs on this guy! Put something on him, a program or a tag, or something that we can track if he vanishes like Princeton did!"

"Yes sir!"

Kairi peeked out from behind her hands, looking at the monitor, "Bastion's a smart guy, maybe the smartest duelist I know, he can come up with any strategy...," she suddenly reached out and grabbed the monitor, shaking it, "YOU HEAR THAT BASTION!? YOU WIN THIS!!"

"Kairi, easy! Calm down!" Kristerr pulled her away from the monitor, "I know he's a smart guy, kid, I'm just being realistic!" he frowned, "Wait a minute...the smartest? What about Jaden?"

"What about him?"

"If I remember correctly, wasn't it Jaden that won the biggest duel at Duel Academy and saved the world from evil cards?"

"Well, yeah...but have you _seen_ his grades at school?"

"..."

"What?"

* * *

In it's sanctuary, the hacker watched the duel, cigarette in hand.

"Not doing so hot, are ya kid? No, doesn't look like it. Too bad, from what I've seen, you're supposed to be really bright, but all I've seen is some lucky hits and draws...still, I guess you're having better luck than your green-haired friend there. About to, at least,"

With that, the hacker leaned forward and soon the sound of fingers flying across the keyboard echoed within the sanctuary.

"Let's see how you fare without your little guide to help you out, boys and girls!"

* * *

**B: 1300  
M: 1100**

"I forgot to mention, but when my Enforce of the Mist Valley is summoned normally, all the Traps and Spells on the field return to the hands of their owners. Since Spring of Rebirth is the only card on the field, it returns to my hand," Midori explained as her Spell card returned to her hand, "I end my turn. Again, sorry about destroying your monster!"

Christina clapped loudly, "It's okay, Bastion, you can still do it! I know you, you're tough! You're smart! Kick this girl's butt and show her what you're made of!"

_She's right, I'm better than this! Bastion looked up at the large Enforcer_, his hand on his deck, "I draw!" he drew his new card and a grin quickly spread across his face, Bingo!

Jaden smiled, "I know that look. Guys, I think our pal Bastion's about to make a comeback,"

"DAMN RIGHT!" Christina screamed, "GO BASTION!"

To quote Jaden...get your game on, Midori! Bastion slipped the new card into his disk, "I play the Spell known as Card of Sanctity! This allows us both to draw until we have six cards in our hands," he explained as he began to draw his new cards, giving himself a new hand.

Midori drew her cards, _Oooh...perfect. Bastion, I hate to say this, but you just cost yourself the duel. Too bad, you were fun to play with._

"I summon Mathematician (1500/500) in defense mode, then I place one card facedown on the field. Because I brought him out, my Mathematician's ability kicks in and I must take the top card of my deck and send it to the Graveyard," he paused and slipped a card into the Graveyard, "I end my turn,"

_That should not only buy me some time, but if my prediction comes true, I'll have won this duel!_

Midori drew a new card, then tossed one from her hand because she was over the limit, "Alright, Bastion, you've been a terrific guy to play with, but I'm afraid that as Game Marshal of this area, it's time I live up to my reputation and bring an end to this duel," she slipped a card into her disk, "I play the Spell card known as Spell Reproduction! By sending two other Spell cards from my hand, I can bring one back from the Graveyard and add it to my hand. So, by sending Giant Trunade and Ground Collapse to the Graveyard, I call back Cost Down!"

Bastion frowned, _I know what's coming next...it's so obvious, I think even Jaden can catch it on the first guess._

Jaden tilted his head a little bit, "Why's she wanting to do that, she has a strong enough monster already...?"

Siho and Christina slapped themselves in the face, _The **one** time he **doesn't** get it..._

"I play Cost Down yet again, and by discarding another card from my hand, I lower the level of my strongest monster! Normally, I'd have to sacrifice two to bring him out, but since Cost Down is in effect, I only need one! I sacrifice Enforcer of the Mist Valley in order to summon Giant God Bird of Mist Valley (2700/2000) in attack mode!"

Everyone watched as a gigantic bird with a huge wingspan and strange yellow body with red triangular marks appeared on the field, roaring at the top of it's lungs.

Jaden gawked, "What a monster!"

Alexis nodded, "No kidding...,"

Jordan closed his eyes, "This is gonna be ugly...,"

"Giant God Bird, attack and destroy Mathematician!"

* * *

"WHAT IS GONNA HAPPEN?!"

Kristerr found himself being shaken by Kairi, just like the monitor had been a short time ago.

"Kairi, let go of me!"

* * *

"I end my turn,"

"With Mathematician destroyed in battle, I get to draw one card, so in addition to my turn beginning, I get to draw two!" Bastion drew his new cards, "I place two cards facedown on the field, and then I summon Magnet Warrior Sigma Minus (1500/1800) in attack mode and I end my turn,"

Khamille frowned, "What the hell is he thinking? Midori's got strong monsters and monsters that can just send that monster back to his hand...what's he doing, leaving himself open like that? Look, he even brought it out in attack mode!"

"He's got a plan," Christina said evenly, looking at Bastion hard, "I hope so, anyway,"

Midori was thinking the same thing. She eyed the first facedown card he put down not too long ago, _He's saving that. It must be a Trap card or a Spell card that could turn the tables for him. Yes, he may be leading in Life Points, but the battlefield is something else..._ she looked at the monster, _He's practically begging me to attack his monster. No doubt that when he does, he'll activate that card..._ she looked at the other two, _...and no doubt he's put those there to try and throw me off._

She drew her card, "Bastion, you've been a good opponent, but not good enough. I'm sorry, but it's true," she held up a card, "I play my own Mystical Space Typhoon in order to destroy the first facedown card you have there!"

Bastion watched as his facedown card was revealed. It was his 100,000 Gauss Trap card!

Jordan tugged at his hair as the card was destroyed, "Man, if she didn't blast that, he would've weakened the God Bird by 800 points after this!"

I knew it! Midori pointed at Magnet Warrior Sigma Minus, "Giant God Bird, destroy Magnet Warrior Sigma Minus! Rip him apart!"

Bastion just stood there as his Life Points dropped nearly to zero.

**B: 100  
M: 1100**

Midori smiled as Giant God Bird returned to her, "I really hope there's no hard feelings between us, Bastion. Don't get me wrong, you did pretty well, but I've taken care of your best monsters," she shrugged, "I'm very sorry, but I've pretty much-,"

"_Lost_,"

The female Game Marshal blinked, surprised she was interrupted like that. She turned her head a little, looking straight at Bastion, "I'm...I'm sorry?"

"You've lost, Midori," Bastion repeated, "I may not have a very strong monster at my disposal, but there's something I've learned in my years of dueling and this is it: You can't always rely on the brute strength of monsters. Sometimes, you have to strategize and even trick your opponent to win!"

"What...what are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about my facedown cards," Bastion pointed to his field, "I knew I'd be getting these sooner or later, but I thought that if I brought them out at a certain point, you'd no doubt find a way to get rid of them for me, so I placed a decoy. The 100,000 Gauss card you destroyed was such a decoy and because of that, you've allowed me to win this duel!"

"How-?"

"I activate the Trap card, Ring of Destruction!" Bastion shouted, his facedown card rearing up to reveal a necklace of red grenades that soon latched itself around Giant God Bird's neck, "This destroys one monster on the field and deals both players damage equal to it's attack points. Now, you're thinking that I'll still lose and this will be a draw, but don't bet on it, Midori. I've prepared myself and my deck for almost any occasion! Next, I play the Quick Spell card, Ring of Defense!" a large green fan appeared on Bastion's side of the field, "With this activated, no harm is done to me when Ring of Destruction goes kaboom!"

Jordan turned to his cousin, "Did he just say 'Kaboom' ?"

Alexis nodded, "I'm surprised, too...,"

Midori backed away as the necklace of grenades around her giant bird's neck exploded, destroying not only her monster, but the rest of her Life Points while Bastion was protected by his giant spinning fan.

**B: 100  
M: 0**

"That's game," Bastion deactivated his duel disk and walked over to Midori, who was sitting on the ground, her hair a mess and her eyes wide, no doubt because of the surprise she had just been through. Bastion helped her up, "Thank you for the duel, Midori, that was quite the challenge,"

"N..No problem," Midori murmured, dusting herself off, "I didn't expect that!"

"You just expected me to be a duelist who needs help from their opponent now and then, when I'm capable of doing my dueling myself," Bastion smiled and held out his hand, "I hope you learned something today, Lady Game Marshal,"

Midori looked at him, smiled and took his hand, shaking it as a light redness appeared on her face, "I have, Bastion. Thank you,"

"Alright, alright, that's enough,"

Bastion suddenly felt himself being pulled back, something latching onto his shirt. He looked back to see Christina standing behind him, her eyes locked on Midori.

"Chrissy, what are-?"

"I hate to look and sound rude, Midori, but we're kinda in a hurry," Christina cut him off, "We're looking for a friend of ours who disappeared from Lord Revastan's mansion after he lost his duel with him, and time is kinda important. Would you happen to know where he is?"

Midori thought for a moment, then shook her head,"I'm sorry, but I don't. However, you may want to talk to my brother about that. I hate to say it, but he's got a habit of being more informed than me,"

"Okay, cool!" Christina clapped, "Be right back!"

Taking Bastion's arm, she turned back and trotted to her friends, telling them what she had just been told.

"So we just find her brother and see what we can find out," Jaden nodded, "Sounds like a plan. We need to get his name, then we can have Noah teleport us there and...guys, where's Noah?"

Everyone looked around and they saw what Jaden was talking about.

Noah was nowhere to be seen at all.

* * *

At that moment, the hacker was laughing like crazy, almost falling out of the chair because of it.

"Had trouble finding your rich friend with that annoying sprite helping you, now you're missing him _and_ your friend! This just keeps getting more and more fun for me!"

* * *

**Kilnorc: Oh...crap...not good! Okay, again, hope I did the duel right..otherwise I'll have to go through all that revision -grabs notes and looks them over-**


End file.
